


When We Were Done Dying

by officialsarahjay



Series: When We Were Done Dying [1]
Category: Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-04-06 08:40:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19059139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/officialsarahjay/pseuds/officialsarahjay
Summary: Takes place 5 years after the events of X. Important to know the basic plot of – Will – , but not necessary. Once again Spira is faced with a new threat and an unlikely ally makes his return. Multi-chapter, updates will be sporadic.





	1. 0 - Dark Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prologue.

“ _Show me your face.”_

 

Rikku decided five years was enough.

 

She was haunted. For five years. And five years is a long time to watch your world go to shit.

 

“ _Look at me.”_

 

She was fifteen.

 

She left Home. She broke away from the protective gaze of her father and older brother. She was precocious and frankly, she craved a little danger.

 

Auron was danger.

 

He even came wrapped in bright red, shining like a warning.

 

“ _Open your eyes.”_

 

In his defense, he did resist her. Initially. But Rikku was tenacious. Rikku wouldn’t hear no. “No.” “You’ve got a crush.” “There is no room for distractions on this journey.”

 

“This is wrong.”

 

“I won’t take advantage of you.”

 

“I won’t be the one who breaks your heart.”

 

But then he gave in. He kissed her first, in between murmured apologies. He kissed her first, and then he crawled under her skin. He took up residence in her veins, in her brain. She should have known he would haunt her. But she was fifteen. She craved a little danger.

 

*

 

When Rikku was a little girl, she heard that only good Spirans go to the Farplane. Al Bhed, on the other hand, they became fiends. They were already fiends, and their sins kept them trapped on the planet. They would be killed, and the pyreflies would float away, where they would reform as fiends and the cycle would continue. A spiral.

 

Rikku knew it was bullshit.

 

But deep down inside, she wondered what if it was true? What if there were no other side?

 

At night she would scratch at her skin, desperate to free herself from her possession, desperate to tear Auron’s touch from her veins. She was haunted and desperate to be freed. Desperate to be exorcised.

 

Rikku decided five years was enough.

 

She decided to take a trip to Besaid. If anyone could exorcise demons from your veins, it was Lulu. Lulu was a wise woman. Lulu was a witch. Lulu used a little bit of this, a little bit of that, wrapped it all up in dark magic and forbidden secrets, and voila. An exorcism in a bottle.

 

“I love you honey, but I need to be free,” Rikku whispered as she stepped into the soft white sands of Besaid.

 

Meanwhile, the Fayth laughed.


	2. 1 - When I Was Done Dying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rikku goes to Besaid to exorcise her demon. What she finds instead is infinitely more complicated. Mild language, some Al Bhed.

“High Priestess, we found someone. In the ocean.”

 

Yuna glanced up; the small silver discs woven into the hem of her silk veil jingled lightly with her movement.

 

“In the ocean?” she repeated.

 

“Yes, an older man off the coast of Besaid. Must’ve been from a capsized boat, but a couple of the Aurochs were practicing when they saw him. Said he was easy to spot, he was wearing red – ”

 

“Bring him to me.”

 

*

 

“Whaddaya mean you can’t help me? _Luluuuu!_ ”

 

Lulu took Rikku’s hands in hers and gave them a squeeze.

 

“What you’re asking from me...Rikku, it’s impossible. I provide remedies, I cannot erase the past.”

 

“But – ”

 

“I can give you a tonic for the insomnia, but that’s all I can do. I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s not insomnia. It’s more than that.” Rikku pulled her hands out of Lulu’s grasp, and immediately dug the heels of her palms into her eyes. “Lulu, I feel like I’m trapped. He won’t leave me alone, I feel like I’ve tried everything, he won’t – he just won’t leave me alone!”

 

“Who is ‘he’?”

 

Rikku let out a small, strained cry.

 

“Lulu, how...how long did it take for you to get over Chappu?” she asked, her voice trembling.

 

“Well for one, I never got over Chappu,” Lulu gently corrected. “Losing someone that you love so wholly is not something you get over. The pain lessens over time, but you never forget its sting.”

 

“But how long did it take for you to fall in love again?”

 

Lulu pursed her lips in mild irritation.

 

“I cannot say how long it will take for you to get past...him,” she said carefully. “Because I know that’s what you are seeking. A number to compare to your own pain. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. You just need to acknowledge your grief before you can let it go.”

 

“Lulu, please...” Rikku whimpered.

 

“Would it help you to talk about it?” Lulu asked.

 

Rikku shook her head.

 

“It’s just you and me.”

 

Rikku stood up. She adjusted her deep red haori as it simultaneously slipped off her left shoulder before wiping her face and smiling.

 

“I’m sorry I wasted your time. Give Vidina a kiss for me, will ya?”

 

*

 

The last time Rikku popped into Besaid Temple, she remembered storming out in tears. Was it a year and a half ago? Rikku couldn’t remember, nor did she much care. She was angry, though. Angry at Yuna for agreeing to advise the Yevoners. Angry at Yuna for becoming a high priestess. Angry at Yuna for digging in her heels and saying this was the life she chose, a life of servitude to the people of Spira and their stupid beliefs.

 

Yuna was going to fight Sin, the new Sin, the Sin that had been beckoned by God knows who, the Sin that Yevoners and other Spirans blamed the Al Bhed for summoning in the first place, the Sin that essentially forced the Al Bhed to retreat further into the deepest corners of Spiran society.

 

Yuna was her best friend, and their fight had been bitter, and it ended with Rikku storming out in tears and a year and a half of silence.

 

Rikku was tired of fighting.

 

Tired of crying.

 

Tired of not having a family to fall back on.

 

After leaving Lulu’s hut, she decided she would just march right back into Besaid Temple and talk to Yuna. How hard could it be?

 

Fucking impossible, it turned out.

 

Rikku stood at the steps of the temple, shielding her eyes with her hand as she gazed up at its stony facade. Oh, how she hated the temples. Oh, how she wished they all could have been pulled down after the start of the Eternal Calm.

 

She took a deep breath.

 

Well, there was no time like the present. _Vilg ed_ , she was going in.

 

“YUNIE IT’S ME. I’M SORRY,” Rikku bellowed, as she stomped into the temple. She inhaled, filling her lungs with the heavy incense that floated through the main antechamber before succumbing to a coughing fit. “YUNIE – I – FUCK – I’M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME.”

 

She skulked toward Yuna’s chambers, knocking rapidly on the heavy door before pushing it open. “Yunie I – ”

 

She stopped.

 

Her mouth dropped open.

 

Sitting on a small, round cushion on the floor across from Yuna was a damp man from a half-remembered dream. His amber gaze flicked up at Rikku, and his face softened.

 

“Hello,” he said quietly.

 

“You.”


	3. 2 - Exits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry you guys. Just a little more building up before I get into the meat and potatoes of the fic. The next part will be more eventful and hopefully more humorous. Thank you for reading!

In Rikku’s defense, what happened next was a black out blur. She lunged forward. She remembered that. She remembered knocking over the squat wooden table, she remembered the tea spilling and the cookies bouncing onto the floor. She remembered wailing? Sobbing? Whatever it was, the noise she made was what Yuna would call “unbecoming”.

 

“Oh Rikku, I’m going to have to clean that up now,” Yuna sighed from behind.

 

“You...you...” she hiccuped. “This isn’t...you’re not...you’re dead! You’ve BEEN dead!”

 

“And now I’m not.”

 

“HOW?”

 

“Maybe it was a wish,” Yuna said. “It’s how Sin returned.”

 

Rikku wiped her face and exhaled. “You have a lot of explaining to do, Auron.”

 

“I was dead. And now I’m not,” Auron repeated. “If you require more of an explanation, then your guess is as good as mine.”

 

“So you don’t even know how you got here?”

 

Auron shrugged.

 

“I found myself in the ocean. When I drew my first breath my lungs filled with saltwater. I struggled to break through the surface, and once I finally did I dragged myself to the beach. I hoped to dry off and gather my wits about me before venturing into town, however by the time I got onto the shore I was greeted by Yuna’s guards.”

 

“A few of the Aurochs saw him and sent for help,” Yuna said quietly.

 

“They brought me back to the temple where I could change into something warm and dry – ”

 

“And that’s when I realized just who he is,” Yuna finished. She exhaled shortly and rose up, slowly, off of her cushion. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find someone to help me clean up this mess.” Her gaze drifted from Auron, to Rikku, before she gave a small, terse smile and quietly padded out of the room, her veil and skirts swishing behind her.

 

The door gently clicked shut.

 

Rikku sat down with her head bowed, as spilled tea began seeping into her torn black stockings. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it wouldn’t go down.

 

The man sitting across from her and looking completely nonplussed DID look like Auron, outside of the fact that he was wearing the usual woven tunic and shorts the men of Besaid favored. And the clothes hanging to dry DID look like Auron’s. But this WAS Spira. Strange things happened all the time.

 

Rikku needed proof.

 

She quickly shot up and poked not-Auron in the cheek.

 

“How do I know it’s you?”

 

“What?”

 

“PROVE IT.”

 

“How?”

 

“That sounds like something a fiend would say,” Rikku said in a hushed tone.

 

“Rikku, it’s me.”

 

“HOW?”

 

Auron sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

 

“How may I prove to you that I’m exactly who I say I am?”

 

“What am I most afraid of?” Rikku asked as she narrowed her eyes.

 

“Lightning.”

 

“AH-HAH NOT ANYMORE, NOT-AURON!” Rikku laughed, pointing triumphantly. “You’re a fake! I knew it!”

 

Auron stared at her, his brows furrowed and his lips pursed.

 

“Stop looking at me like that. Only Auron looks at me like that, and he’s dead.”

 

“Rikku, it’s me,” he repeated. “I’ve no reason to lie to you.”

 

Rikku bent down, and pressed her open palms flat against Auron’s cheeks. She narrowed her gaze as she carefully drank in his features before dropping her hands to her side and falling back to her knees.

 

“And...and you’re alive?” she asked, her voice trembling. “You’re SURE that you’re alive? I mean, HOW do you know you’re alive?”

 

Without saying a word, Auron reached for Rikku’s hand, placing it flat against his chest.

 

“Feel that?”

 

Rikku nodded.

 

Five years ago, after reaching Zanarkand and facing Yunalesca, Rikku first realized Auron was unsent. She saw the memories play out by fevered pyreflies within the temple; she saw the injuries he had taken and knew they were fatal. And once Yunalesca had been dispatched and once the party had boarded the Fahrenheit she remembered calling him out.

 

“ _Would it have changed anything?_ ”

 

“ _Yeah, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you!_ ”

 

But then she begged him to stay with her on the Fahrenheit that night. She was aware that they didn’t have much time left; that once Sin and Yu Yevon were gone he would be too. He would dissolve into a cloud of twinkling pyreflies and float away, like the dandelion puffs she blew on as a small child.

 

Surprisingly, he obliged.

 

And she remembered pressing her ear against his chest, hoping that she was wrong and that she could hear the slow beating of his heart, belaying any doubt that he was a dead man walking.

 

She heard nothing.

 

“It surprised me too,” Auron said, gently drawing her back to reality.

 

“You’re alive,” Rikku said with finality.

 

Auron nodded.

 

Rikku slowly pulled her hand from Auron’s grasp and raised her hands to her face. She was haunted. For five years she was haunted. And she suffered for it. She cried countless tears, slept with countless strangers, took countless risks to free herself from the shade that crept inside her head, that made himself at home in her veins…

 

And here he was.

 

Just across from her.

 

Alive.

 

“You’re not happy to see me,” Auron said.

 

“I need a second, okay?!” Rikku snapped. She dropped her hands from her face and glared at him. “I mean, did you expect that I was going to throw myself at you and kiss you and tell you how happy I was to see you? No! You left me!”

 

“I tried to say my goodbyes. Did you not find the sphere I left you?”

 

She had. And to rub salt into the wound, she would watch it repeatedly, until she had his words memorized. A glutton for punishment, she was.

 

“I wanted you to know it was okay to move on.”

 

“But I couldn’t.”

 

Tentatively he reached forward, placing a hand on her bare shoulder. And then she tipped forward, falling into his arms and allowing them to close around her.

 

“Rikku – ”

 

“We’re not alone anymore,” she said quietly.

 

“Yeah and this is kind of weird, I mean, I wanted to ask what’s going on in here because I knew I was interrupting something intense but now I’m just a little confused and a little grossed out.” Tidus placed the bucket and rags at his feet and leaned against the doorframe. He pointed at both Auron and Rikku with his index and middle fingers. “Something happened between you two a long, long time ago. Something sexy.”

 

“Hello Tidus,” Auron sighed.

 

“So should I leave, should I give you two a few more minutes…? Wow, this is unbelievably awkward.”

 

Immediately Rikku wriggled out of Auron’s embrace and sat back heavily on a puddle of cool tea, legs akimbo. She smiled.

 

“Long time no see, eh Tidus?”

 

Tidus arched an eyebrow.

 

“Well then I should be going, I gotta get back on the Celsius. Didn’t tell Brother or Buddy when I’ll be back and I’m sure they’re worried about me – ”

 

“Stay,” Auron said.

 

“But my ass is in tea.”

 

Tidus picked up the bucket, heaving it into the small chambers.

 

“Yeah, you’re not going to stay for dinner?”

 

“And make things more awkward? Yeah, no, I have...crackers...crackers on the Celsius.”

 

“Stay,” Auron repeated.

 

“ _Tysh ed._ ”

 

*

 

But Rikku didn’t want to stay for dinner. She wanted to retreat back to the Celsius, where she could pace a trench into the floor and gather her thoughts. But as her father liked to say “ _fecr eh uha ryht, becc eh dra udran, yht caa fryd vemmc ib vencd_ ” so later that evening she sat awkwardly between her cousin and her ghost, and aimlessly stirred some beige Besaid delicacy as she stared into space.

 

So she excused herself in the middle of dinner to go sit on the beach.

 

After all, Besaid was well known for its beautiful white sandy beaches and coastal views, or whatever the brochure had said. She couldn’t remember. She just needed something to read as she sat on a toilet. And the water did look awfully pretty, glittering gold and blue as the sun sat behind the Celsius moored out in the distance.

 

“After Tidus came back, I prayed for you. I actually _prayed_ for you,” Rikku said, hugging her knees to her chest. “I thought maybe the Fayth would take pity on me and answer my wish the same way they answered Yuna’s. But then again, I’m just an Al Bhed and she’s the fucking high summoner. Of course they would hear her prayers first.”

 

“You aren’t giving yourself enough credit.”

 

“Oh really?”

 

“You were the high summoner’s legendary guardian. And...I’m sure you’ve accomplished other noteworthy tasks, but I’m afraid I wasn’t here to see just what those were.”

 

Rikku smiled to herself.

 

“Sit down next to me?” she asked, patting a patch of beautiful white sandy beach with an open palm.

 

Auron obliged, sitting down heavily. He stretched his legs out in front of him.

 

“Nice shorts,” Rikku mused.

 

“It was that or stay wet.”

 

“And you didn’t have to follow me out here, ya know,” she added, her tone pointed.

 

“I felt that we needed to finish talking.”

 

Rikku nodded.

 

“Yeah probably.” She exhaled shortly. “You know, I still haven’t properly apologized to Yuna? Because we got into a fight a long time ago and we haven’t exactly spoken since. But then I decided I wanted to make things right with her so I stopped by the temple because where else is she going to be and then...” She looked over at Auron. “When I woke up this morning, I didn’t expect this would happen as messily as it did.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For throwing a wrench in your day.”

 

Rikku glanced down at her hand. She began drawing lazy circles into the beautiful white sand as she collected her words.

 

“You absolutely did not throw a wrench in my day. I’m still shocked, yeah, and I have more questions than I do answers but…I missed you. Bad.”

 

“How...how long has it been?” Auron asked quietly.

 

“Five years.”

 

He exhaled slowly.

 

“Yeah, we should probably catch you up over breakfast or something so you don’t stand out more than you’re already going to.”

 

“I imagine that won’t take long,” Auron said sarcastically.

 

Rikku shrugged and returned her gaze to the ocean. The sun was beginning to make its slow dip behind the horizon, and the water burned a fiery orange. After a pause, she began to speak.

 

“So, I guess the Fayth listened to an Al Bhed girl’s prayers after all.”

 

“It would appear so.”

 

She hummed to herself. And if the Fayth listened to her prayers…

 

Well, it was going to be disasteriffic.

 

“It’s getting dark, we should probably head back. And I should...probably...I don’t know, finally talk to Yuna. I owe her that much,” Rikku said softly. She scrambled to her knees, but before getting up she placed both hands flat against Auron’s cheeks and pressed a quick kiss to lips.

 

“Welcome back,” she grinned.


	4. 3 - The Storm Is Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter number formatting on Ao3 is throwing me for a loop. I'm sorry Prologue is one. Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay but here's the next section. The point of view shifts slightly, and this time we dive a little into Auron's psyche. However, this is my favorite part yet because we introduce the plot finally. 
> 
> Enjoy.

The memories reminded him of koi in a pond. They were quick to swarm to the surface, but would always dip back beneath the water’s inky depths when he reached out for them.

 

He remembered cool, salty breezes. He remembered fine, hot sand between his toes.

 

He remembered agreeing to go with the nice people in their pretty robes to Bevelle.

 

He remembered that he didn’t know what a warrior monk was, only that he wanted to be one if it meant that the nice people in their pretty robes continued to dote on him. After all, he was only five. He wanted to please the nice people in their pretty robes.

 

So began the spiral.

 

A small knock at his door drew him from his fractured memories. Carefully, he folded the newspaper he had open and glanced up.

 

“Come in.”

 

The heavy door pushed open. A small, blonde head peered in.

 

“You awake?”

 

“It would appear so. Rikku, what happened?”

 

“Okay so after we beat Yu Yevon and you exploded into a cloud of pyreflies – ”

 

“Not that. Your face.”

 

Rikku stepped into the chamber. Her stocking feet slipped on tile floor as she leaned against the door, pushing it shut. She slid to the floor, her small back pressed firmly against it as though her body alone could block anyone from entering. Black makeup streaked down her cheeks and left a trail of small spots down the front of her haori.

 

“I talked to Yuna,” she said simply.

 

Auron didn’t speak. He gathered a cloth from the nightstand and soaked it in a stone basin filled with lukewarm water.

 

“Are you going to ask me what happened?” Rikku demanded.

 

“No,” Auron said.

 

“God, I missed you,” Rikku sighed.

 

He squeezed the excess water from the cloth, shook it out and folded it before turning to Rikku. He sunk down in front of her, taking her chin in one hand before wiping clean the makeup from her cheeks.

 

“It’s written on your face,” he said.

 

“That obvious?”

 

Auron remained silent.

 

“It’s just...who does she think she is? When she told me she was going back to Besaid to side with the Yevoners I got so angry at her, like, did she forget what Yevon did to her? To us? To YOU? And after all we went through together she decided she was going to Besaid to side with the Yevoners! She was going to be their “high priestess” – ”

 

“You’re moving around too much, sit still.”

 

“Sorry. But no, she was going to be their “high priestess” and I told her to her FACE I told her people DIED because of Yevon, people DIED and you’re shitting on their memories and she had the balls to look at me and say “this is not Yevon”, the bitch!”

 

“Rikku. Language.”

 

“Sorry. And that was years ago and I felt really bad, you know, I said some harsh things and I love her and she’s my family so I decided while I was here I was going to make it right and make it up to her but then...things got complicated. Are you done?”

 

Auron sat back on his heels and nodded approvingly.

 

“You look beautiful,” he said.

 

For a moment Rikku paused. Her expression softened.

 

“You think so?”

 

“I always thought so.”

 

She gave him a small, sad smile.

 

“I...I missed you...so...m...m...much,” she whimpered, her voice breaking. Her face began to crumble as fresh tears sprang back into her eyes.

 

“But I’m here now.”

 

“I know but – ”

 

“It’s in the past. Let it go.”

 

“You haven’t even been back two days, I’m not gonna just let it go, okay?!”

 

Auron conceded; she had a point.

 

“Then don’t waste your tears on things you cannot change,” he said.

 

Rikku nodded. She sniffled noisily and wiped her face with her sleeves.

 

“Can I stay here with you tonight?” she asked.

 

“I don’t see why not.”

 

She made a sound that was half-sob, half-laugh.

 

“Remember how I used to come creeping into your room at night and ask to stay with you? I just always felt safer sleeping next to you.”

 

“And _I_ should have been the adult and said no. _I_ should have never entertained your crush. That was _my_ mistake.”

 

“Except you didn’t. You kissed me first, remember?”

 

Auron sighed.

 

“It was not a decision I was proud of.”

 

“Are you ashamed of me?”

 

“I’m ashamed of my behavior.”

 

“It’s in the past. Let it go,” Rikku said in a mocking tone, her voice dropping a few octaves in a poor attempt to match his pitch. He frowned at her. She smiled for a moment, before her smile gave way for a look of mild concern.

 

“Did you even like me?”

 

“I was very fond of you.”

 

“Is that a yes?”

 

“I am still very fond of you, it would seem,” Auron said. He stroked her jaw gently. “You are quite a sight for sore eyes, you know?”

 

“So did you miss me?”

 

Auron paused as he tried to formulate an answer. Death had been, well, death had been a long, dreamless sleep. Five years ago he closed his eyes and when he opened them again he found himself in a new world where everything had changed.

 

Everything but him.

 

“I missed you,” he said instead.

 

“I should have actually come to see you in the Farplane then, I mean, I don’t buy that bullshit but maybe then you wouldn’t have missed me,” Rikku said quietly, her gaze cast on the floor.

 

“Except by some fluke of fate here I am. Don’t dwell too heavily on the past. Doing so only holds you back.”

 

Rikku nodded.

 

“ _E cdemm muja oui_ ,” she said.

 

Auron could barely string two words together in Al Bhed, but he knew what that meant. He brushed back the hair that had fallen over her face.

 

“Same,” he said.

 

*

 

The sun began to crest over the ocean’s edge.

 

Back at Besaid Temple, Auron glared at his reflection in the mirror as his fist tightened around the smooth wood handle of the straightedge blade.

 

He needed a fresh start. He had been given an opportunity to write a new story, and he didn’t want to write it while wearing the remnants of a past he had long since abandoned.

 

He reached for his ponytail, tied snugly in a gold Ribbon. He had begun growing the ponytail as a young warrior monk-in-training; he wanted a relic to physically represent his successes and his failures. If he failed at any point in his training, he would take a straightedge to cut the hair off and start anew. But over time he learned and improved, honing his skills until they were as sharp and as lethal and the edge of his broadsword. With each success he would allow the hair to grow until it crept down his back, shiny and black and always tied back in a neat tail.

 

He grimaced at the memory.

 

He pulled the hair taut, and with one clean motion he cut it off and allowed it to fall to the floor.

 

The Ribbon he would keep. The Ribbon had some use to him at least. Years ago he remembered being told that Ribbons were enchanted to offer protection to those who wore them. And although he didn’t fully believe the claim, he didn’t recall ever having faced serious harm while wearing it. That is, until he faced Yunalesca for the final time.

 

Ribbons didn’t close a gaping chest. Ribbons couldn’t push organs back into bleeding bodies and knit them shut.

 

He quickly cleaned up his handiwork, taking care to make sure the back of his head wasn’t too terribly butchered before shaking his fingers through his disheveled hair. He gave himself an approving nod.

 

It would do for now.

 

He plucked the ponytail up off the tile, pulling the Ribbon away before disposing of the hair and wrapping the Ribbon around his wrist. Ribbons weren’t cheap. He wasn’t going to simply throw it away with the rest of the trash.

 

As Auron began to settle back into his morning routine – washing his face, changing back into the now clean-and-dry clothing he had washed up in on Besaid – a slow moving unease began to creep into the corners of his subconscious.

 

He didn’t know why he was here.

 

“Good morning Pyreflies _rumo cred_ you cut your hair.”

 

Auron glanced over his shoulder at Rikku, as radiant as the rising sun. He smiled.

 

“I thought it felt appropriate,” he said.

 

“I like it,” Rikku said approvingly. “It fits you. C’mere?”

 

Auron obliged, taking a seat on the bed across from Rikku. She reached forward to comb her fingers through his silver-streaked hair.

 

“Still messy, but I like messy,” she purred.

 

“Really?”

 

She nodded, her grin widening.

 

“And keep the stubble, I like that too.”

 

Auron chuckled.

 

“Wouldn’t want to disappoint you,” he said.

 

In that moment he could feel his heart begin to beat just a little faster; he could feel his ears redden as a flush slowly bloomed over his cheeks. In that moment he began to truly realize just how long it had been since he experienced the rush of being in the presence of an attractive girl.

He was going to like being alive.

 

“You’re blushing,” Rikku teased.

 

“Am I?”

 

She giggled.

 

“C’mere and kiss me good morning, you dweeb.”

 

He wasn’t going to say no. He inched closer to her, taking her face in his hands and drawing her in for a kiss. A regrettably short kiss, as a loud pounding on the door shocked the pair apart.

 

“Knock knock! Yuna asked me to check on you, she said breakfast’ll be ready soon and just what the fresh hell is going on in here?”

 

“Hello Tidus,” Auron said through gritted teeth.

 

“Yeah no, I don’t even want to know so I’m not even going to ask,” Tidus said, barely masking his disgust. “Can you both just promise me to keep your paws to yourself at breakfast?”

 

“I’m not making any promises I can’t keep,” Rikku said pointedly. She cast a glance at Auron and began to wiggle her thin eyebrows. “Heh? Heh?”

 

Auron sighed.

 

*

 

“They’re called Seymour’s Basilica,” Yuna said quietly. Before her, her untouched plate of eggs and oatmeal was slowly congealing into a beige, inedible mess. “It is my understanding that they formed after the start of the Eternal Calm. They believe Seymour was a deity of sorts and that his vision of complete destruction is Spira’s true destiny.”

 

She plucked at her skirts and sighed.

 

“I think they were the ones that wished back Sin.”

 

“So, Sin _has_ returned?” Auron asked. Several times now he heard the whispers from Yuna, that Sin had returned. At this point, all he wanted was confirmation. Yuna shook her head.

 

“The Sin that returned was a weaker iteration. I was able to banish it, I think.”

 

“You think?”

 

Yuna bobbed her head.

 

“That was awhile ago, and that iteration of Sin hasn’t returned though I can’t be certain it _won’t_ return. However, I also believe Seymour’s Basilica is capable of worse. I have a friend named Nooj who has provided documents for me in the past. These documents describe ancient fiends called Weapons, and they tormented Spira thousands of years ago, long before Sin. These documents make it appear that the Weapons...they’re stronger than Sin.”

 

“But if they weren’t able to beckon Sin at full strength, why do you fear that they have the ability to beckon these Weapons?” Auron asked.

 

“They’ve had time to learn from their mistakes,” Tidus injected.

 

“And we believe they’re using forbidden magic. Blood magic,” Yuna added.

 

“Let me guess. You’re going to stop them,” Auron said flatly.

 

“I made a promise to Spira and its people,” Yuna said with finality.

 

“So. If Seymour’s Basilica is the threat you say, then they will be stopped. You don’t need to involve yourself in every single one of Spira’s struggles,” Auron added.

 

“I’ve tried telling her, but...” Tidus muttered.

 

“They’re dangerous!” Yuna exclaimed.

 

“They could be. They could also be a religious cult with a bark that’s worse than their bite. They could also be a religious cult that got lucky one time and summoned a shade of Sin that you were able to banish handily. So far, you have conjecture and hearsay. You don’t have any hard evidence that they’re using blood magic to summon Weapons,” Auron said. “This Nooj you speak of? Where did he find those documents?”

 

Yuna shook her head.

 

“Were they found in libraries?”

 

“He didn’t say.”

 

“Then assume his evidence is wrong,” Auron said simply.

 

“Okay. Explain to me then how they were able to wish back Sin. Explain to me how you came back.”

 

Auron lowered his gaze. He didn’t know. He just didn’t know.

 

“I don’t think it was a wish,” Yuna said.

 

“Hey, the Fayth wished Tidus back to life. Why couldn’t it _be_ a wish?” Rikku asked.

 

“Tidus was a dream. Auron was unsent. Not once to my knowledge has the Fayth ever breathed back life into a dead man.” Yuna looked over at Auron. “No offense.”

 

“None taken.”

 

“Yeah well, maybe the Fayth decided to make an exception and wish Auron back to life because he WAS unsent,” Rikku said. “Maybe the Fayth decided to make an exception because he did so much to protect Spira and this was his reward!” Yuna raised a brow.

 

“Did you make a bargain with the Fayth?”

 

“Me?”

 

Yuna slowly nodded.

 

“Noooo no no no how could I bargain with the Fayth? They want nothing to do with me! Besides, I’m Al Bhed, why would the Fayth listen to me?”

 

Yuna stared at Rikku.

 

Rikku tittered nervously.

 

“So anyway, Yuna believes that you had a little assistance coming back,” Tidus interrupted. “And seeing that there hasn’t been any evidence that a dead man has come back to life on account of the Fayth, she thinks maybe there was a little bargaining at play, or a little forbidden magic – ”

 

“You don’t think Seymour’s Basilica is responsible for my return, do you?” Auron asked.

 

“I don’t know who is responsible.”

 

“But you have no other theories.”

 

“Nothing like this has ever happened before. That’s why...I’m hoping you could help me.”

 

Auron quickly shook his head.

 

“No. I’m sorry,” he said firmly.

 

“Auron, please – I just need you to go to Bevelle and – ”

 

“I am absolutely not going to Bevelle.”

 

“It won’t take long. Nooj already has a book I need. All he needs to do is hand it off to you – ”

 

“No, Yuna.”

 

Yuna cast Auron a steely gaze. In a low voice, she said “walk with me” before rising up and swishing away.

 

“You better go with her,” Tidus warned.

 

*

 

“I know I’m asking for a lot,” Yuna said quietly. “And I apologize. But Nooj can’t risk getting caught, and I can’t travel to see him. Besides, I have a duty to the people of Besaid. I must stay here.” She quickly adjusted her shawl, and in a brief moment Auron caught a glimpse of something more. Something Yuna had been hiding.

 

“Yuna...” he whispered. “How long?”

 

“Hm? Oh. Oh, this.” She smoothed her hand over her belly. “It’ll be five months soon. Lulu’s been taking care of me.” She glanced over at Auron and beamed. “I think Tidus is more excited than I am. Not that I’m not, but...” She paused. “I think nervous is more accurate.”

 

“And that’s why you want me to go to Bevelle,” Auron said, as realization settled in. Yuna nodded.

 

“I’m so sorry. I know you must feel confused and overwhelmed, but...”

 

“Did you not stop to realize that sending me to Bevelle could lead to more unwanted attention than you anticipated?” Auron asked. “It might seem simple to you, but I’m a dead man, brought to life with no explanation as to why. My arrival will certainly generate a lot of talk and I guarantee it will turn this...this cult’s attention to me. And to you. And to your child. Do you want that?”

 

“What I want is a world where no one lives in fear, and everyone lives in peace,” Yuna said seriously. “Now, more than ever, do I want that.”

 

“I do not think it wise to play your entire hand immediately,” Auron warned.

 

“Tell me. After spending a decade in Tidus’s Zanarkand, how much time did you need to adjust once you finally returned to Spira?” Yuna asked. “How much time did you need to adjust to the people’s gazes, to their questions, to the ten years that had passed while you lived in a dream?”

 

Auron pursed his lips.

 

“You can handle this,” Yuna said firmly. “You promised to be my guardian, didn’t you? Please, be my guardian.”


	5. 4 - "Heroes"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few snags before we get to Bevelle. But nothing out of the ordinary, right?

Lulu stared.

 

From the entrance of her hut, she stared with her arms crossed, her red eyes narrowed.

 

Something wasn’t quite adding up.

 

Slowly she turned her head, her black braids grazing her bare shoulders.

 

“Wakka? Come outside.”

 

“Ya?” The thick, woven fabric that served as a barrier between inside and out fluttered open and Wakka stepped out, a squirming Vidina in his arms.

 

“Look over there. At the temple steps. The one in red...looks familiar?”

 

Wakka shrugged.

 

“That’s Rikku, innit? She came by yesterday wearin’ that.”

 

Lulu sighed exasperatedly.

 

“No, the other one. The man. Look.”

 

Wakka carefully lowered Vidina to the ground and shielded his eyes with his palm, peering at the man on the steps. He hummed to himself.

 

“Oh ho ho, somethin’s fucky, ya,” he said gravely.

 

“FUCKY!” Vidina repeated.

 

“Wakka?”

 

“Lu?”

 

“Let’s avoid teaching Vidina new words?”

 

“Oh. Sorry.”

 

“I’m going to the temple,” Lulu said.

 

“Not by yourself you won’t! I’m comin’ with you!”

 

*

 

“I mean, I _do_ have an airship,” Rikku volunteered. “She’s not much, but she’ll get you to Bevelle.”

 

Auron stopped right at the top of the steps. He frowned.

 

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said quietly. “Sending me to Bevelle is guaranteed to draw unwanted attention. Why, then?”

 

“Pregnancy brain,” Rikku said with certainty.

 

“No, it’s not that,” Auron said. “She knows something. She’s choosing not to reveal just what that is.”

 

“Oooh,” Rikku breathed. She sidled up alongside Auron, wrapping both arms around his exposed left arm and lacing her fingers between his. “Sound like someone we know?”

 

“I don’t know what you mean by that,” Auron said coyly.

 

Rikku grinned.

 

She still wasn’t wholly sure if she was experiencing a dream or reality. Yes, there were aspects that felt like a dream. But on the other hand, she had felt Auron’s heartbeat. She had heard it while she drifted off to sleep with her ear pressed against his chest. It must be real. Or, she just wanted it so badly she manifested it.

 

Either way, she could say in all fairness that she was finally happy. Happier than she had been in a long, long time. And for the first time in a long, long time she felt as though she could breathe freely.

 

Her storm clouds were beginning to part and life tasted sweet.

 

“Did I tell you that I love you?” she asked.

 

“Yes, but I don’t mind hearing it again.”

 

She smiled.

 

“You know, you’re right. Yuna should really be asking someone else, someone inconspicuous, to run her errands. We don’t have to do anything except what we want.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “If you could go anywhere in the world, right now, where would you go?”

 

“Kilika,” Auron said without a moment’s hesitation.

 

“Then let’s go to Kilika! Wait, why Kilika?”

 

“The last I saw of it it was in splinters. I would like to see if they ever rebuilt.”

 

“Oh, they did. And it’s nice,” Rikku said breezily. “And we can sit out on the beach and drink bright, fruity cocktails with tiny umbrellas...yeah, let’s go to Kilika!”

 

Auron gently pulled his arm from Rikku’s grasp and turned to face her. He lifted his hand to caress her cheek, the tip of his thumb tracing the curve of her lips.

 

“That sounds wonderful. Never in my life have I ever done anything I wanted to do. And I want to go to Kilika with you,” he said. Rikku’s grin spread, and she pushed herself onto her tiptoes, threw her arms around Auron’s neck, and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

 

“OK! But we have to be quick, before Yuna realizes – ”

 

She dropped her arms to her side before taking Auron’s wrist in her hand, pulling him behind her. She looked up, and her face fell as she skittered to a complete stop.

 

“Lulu...hi...” she stammered. “How, uh...how long have you just been...standing...there…?”

 

Lulu didn’t speak. Rather, she stared unblinkingly past Rikku, and at the shade standing right behind her.

 

“Lulu?” Rikku repeated.

 

“It is you,” Lulu whispered, her voice shaking. She drifted past Rikku to get a closer look, her eyes swimming with tears. “It really is you, isn’t it?”

 

“Hello Lulu. It’s been awhile,” Auron said.

 

“You look...different, somehow,” Lulu said, as she extended a hand to touch his face. Stylistically he remained pretty much the same minus the gray cowl, the hammered leather pauldron, and the bracer that he had left in a chest in the room back at the temple, the room that Yuna so graciously loaned him. Those he would come back to if he ever needed them. The choppy haircut and the color that had returned to his complexion, however. That could change a man.

 

“I had to make a couple of necessary changes,” he said.

 

“No, you look as though blood runs through your veins. You look alive,” Lulu said. She inhaled sharply, before carefully circling her arms around Auron and pulling him into a hug.

 

“Oh…we’re never going to make it to Kilika,” Rikku whined.

 

“Don’ worry. Kilika will always be there.”

 

“But this was going to be a romantic getaway – ” Rikku stopped herself when she realized she had been speaking to Wakka. Wakka crossed his arms and arched a thick brow.

 

“Romantic? With who?” He shook his head and reached back to rub his neck. “Look at that, I don’ even get hugs like that at home.”

 

“I guess maybe try dying first?” Rikku asked. She dropped to a squat and exhaled hard.

 

“No, can’t do that. Too important.” He grinned and jammed a thumb into his chest. “I’m a master fisherman now!”

 

“Congratulations,” Rikku said with the least enthusiasm possible.

 

“Hey, c’mon, does coming back to Besaid upset you that much?”

 

“It’s a little more complicated than that, Wakka.” She glanced up to see Tidus approaching the steps – suitcase in hand – with Yuna following closely behind. She moaned and pressed the heels of her palms into her eye sockets. “I just wanted bright, fruity cocktails with tiny umbrellas and uninterrupted beach time!”

 

“Girl, we all do! We all do!” Wakka laughed.

 

Rikku whimpered pathetically. She pushed herself back into a standing position before shuffling past Wakka, past Lulu and Auron, and up the steps, stopping directly before Tidus and Yuna.

 

“So you’re coming with?” she asked.

 

“Yuna asked me to. Said she was worried that you would try to kidnap Auron and become diggers or something,” Tidus sighed. “You were going to kidnap him and become diggers, weren’t you?”

 

“I mean, she’s not entirely wrong...” Rikku said with a shrug.

 

Yuna responded with a tight smile.

 

Tidus groaned.

 

“Come on. It’s just one stupid book; the sooner we get it the sooner we can get back,” he mumbled.

 

“If it’s just for one stupid book, then why do you need the suitcase? Tidus? TIDUS!” Rikku stamped her feet. “Oh, I just wanted sex on the beach...”

 

“The cocktail?” Tidus asked.

 

“That too.”

 

*

 

“It’ll be alright. We can still visit Kilika afterwards,” Auron tried to say reassuringly, his voice low. Rikku whimpered.

 

“But I really wanted those bright, fruity cocktails with the tiny umbrellas and you inside of me,” she whined.

 

“Ah...I’m sure that can still, uh, be arranged,” Auron said haltingly. Rikku glanced sidelong at him and smiled.

 

“You’re about as red as that robe, ya’kno?” she purred.

 

“I don’t think I’ll ever become accustomed to a woman speaking so forwardly. No offense.”

 

She beamed.

 

He called her a woman.

 

Which meant that he no longer viewed her as just a girl with a crush.

 

Score.

 

She glanced around the claustrophobic bridge, at the bodies milling around. There was Brother and Buddy, of course: she couldn’t have the Celsius without them. Then Tidus with his bright red headband, talking animatedly with a heavier, more sunkissed Wakka. It was Lulu that had insisted Wakka come along.

 

“ _Considering our histories with Bevelle, I_ _think it wise to have_ _more bodies carry out Yuna’s task,”_ Lulu had said. And so Wakka made six.

 

It made Rikku want to pull at her braids and scream.

 

She skipped over to Buddy and gave him a hard tap on the shoulder.

 

“Ready when you are!” she grinned.

 

Buddy pursed his lips.

 

“That’s great,” he said.

 

“Right? And I have a spot on the beach waiting with my name on it and the sooner we leave, the sooner I can sit my ass on it. So ready. when. you. are!”

 

“Rikku. She won’t start.”

 

Rikku blinked quickly.

 

Her smile began to falter.

 

And then she screamed.

 

“What do you mean _cra fuh'd cdynd_?!” she shrieked as she repeatedly stamped the heel of her boot into the brushed metal flooring. She gave Buddy a furious shove. “ _M_ _edanymmo, fryd dra vilg_?!”

 

“Rikku, please,” Buddy said calmly. “We’ve been trying to get her started for hours. It’s one of the engines, it won’t turn over. And...” Buddy inhaled sharply before whispering “we think it’s toast.”

 

“Well, if worse comes to worse we can take my boat,” Wakka said slowly as he rubbed the back of his sun-reddened neck. “But that’s gonna add days to the trip.”

 

“I’m fine with that,” Auron said from across the bridge.

 

“You sure ‘bout that? Because I ‘member you being all hurry up and go – ”

 

“I’m fine with that, Wakka,” Auron repeated.

 

Wakka raised a finger and opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a loud, metallic bang that echoed through the bridge. Rikku visibly jumped.

 

“What was that?”

 

“I don’t know, but it sounds like something’s in the vent. Brother, did you let coyotes onboard again?” Buddy asked.

 

“ _E uhmo kud dra luoudac du taym fedr dra nutahd bnupmas, cu E fuimt dryhg oui du hajan pnehk dryd ib ykyeh,_ ” Brother said haughtily, as he crossed his arms across his bare chest.

 

There came another, more intense banging.

 

“Oh no, what if it’s the baby coeurl I found in the Calm Lands, the one I thought ran away?” Rikku asked. She approached the peeling, battered vent grate where the bulk of the noise was coming from and peered inside. “Little kitty, is that you?”

 

“Oh for the love of – stop picking up strays, Rikku!” Buddy scolded.

 

“Well someone please take off the grate! Just in case!”

 

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Wakka warned. He glanced back at Tidus. “We got this, right brudda?”

 

Tidus stared at Wakka with wide-eyed indignation.

 

Then, before anyone could further react, the vent grate bent outward and shot off, skittering onto the floor. And what rolled out what a filthy, delirious Al Bhed man wearing an eyepatch and a dusty black-and-lilac boiler suit, stammering to no one in particular.

 

“TWENTY – EIGHT – HOURS – HOT – SO – HOT – WATER – NEED – WATER – RIKKU – PLEASE – FORGIVE – ME – I...”

 

“GIPPAL WHAT THE FUCK?” Rikku shrieked.

 

Gippal gasped dramatically.

 

“Please, water! I need water!” He glanced up at the small audience that had gathered around him, before swiveling his head and turning his wild, green eye to Auron and the clay jug that sat ever-present on his hip.

 

“WATER!” he gasped as he clawed his way to Auron. He swiped weakly at the jug.

 

“That’s not water,” Auron warned. He sighed and shook his head in disbelief as Gippal pulled the jug off of his blue obi, and watched with clear irritation as he uncorked it and poured the contents over his face.

 

“THAT’S NOT WATER!” he screamed frantically. He began to claw at his face. “Oh my God why is that not water?!”

 

“I tried to tell you,” Auron said, sounding bored.

 

As Gippal curled himself into a tight ball on the floor and began to let out loud, piercing cries, Tidus glanced around the bridge with a concerned expression.

 

“Should we, ah...should we get him some water?”

 

*

 

“So that’s how I smuggled myself aboard through the wheel wells,” Gippal said with finality. He spread his arms with a flourish, as though he was proud of himself. “Not my finest moment, of course, but worth it to see your smiling face, Rikku.”

 

Rikku grimaced at him.

 

Gippal cleared his throat.

 

“Aright, so. Where’s your crew?” he asked, clapping his hands together. Buddy shrugged.

 

“We don’t have a crew.”

 

“What do you mean, don’t have a crew?”

 

Brother and Buddy exchanged glances.

 

“Airships are big and complicated and require a crew to function properly!” Gippal shouted. “Who does your regular maintenance? Who makes sure the airship is in flying order? If you don’t have anyone who can do that, you’re going to have a bad time!”

 

“We would try to fix things as they come – ” Buddy began.

 

“And now you’re got yourselves a flightless bird.” Gippal sighed. “Listen. I can help you get her flying again. We’ll just limp her over to Bevelle and I’ll have my crew meet us there. I can’t guarantee she’ll ever be the same again, but at least she’ll be maintained.” He glanced over at Rikku. “It’s the least I can do _for you_.”

 

“We can hire our own crew, thanks,” Rikku said.

 

“Then who will maintain the Celsius until you do?”

 

“Don’t worry about that.”

 

“Then I guarantee you will be stranded in Bevelle, and I doubt Bevelle will be as accommodating as Besaid. Just give me a few hours to make a few calls and to get this bird in the air, and I promise I’ll be out of your hair.”

 

“A...a few HOURS?” Rikku stammered. “No! No, we’ve got this, and YOU – you need to leave, Gippal!”

 

“Oh really? You mind if I call your bluff, then?” Gippal asked with an easy smile.

 

Rikku exhaled loudly and threw her hands in the hair. Furiously, she turned on her heel and stomped past Gippal, but not before grabbing Auron by the wrist and violently pulling him behind her.

 

“C’mon, I’m giving you a private tour of the Celsius. They’ve seen it,” she said, jerking her head in the direction of the party. “You haven’t.” She looked over her shoulder and waved. “GOOD LUCK WITH THE AIRSHIP!”


	6. 5 - Glory Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party finally gets to Bevelle per Yuna's strong-armed request, and they all live happily ever after. 
> 
> Said no one ever.

Rikku used to try to push her luck.

 

She liked seeing how much she could get away with.

 

Because yes, Auron was danger. But he was also polite. He was a gentleman. He was chaste kisses and hands above the waist, hands between her shoulder blades. Hands away from the temptations of a precocious girl who craved a little danger.

 

Once she got an opened-mouth rum-soaked kiss. Once. But the thrill of it was tarnished after he apologized profusely and said he drank just a little too much, a little too quickly. He didn’t really _mean_ for it to happen.

 

But that was five years ago. Five years ago she could only dream about being under him. And she tried, boy did she try. She liked seeing how much she could get away with. But as her father liked to say “ _fecr eh uha ryht, becc eh dra udran, yht caa fryd vemmc ib v_ _encd_ ” and Auron left for the Farplane before she could further disgrace an already disgraced monk.

 

So she slept with Gippal instead.

 

Then Buddy.

 

Then Issaru, who came after about half a minute and then spent 45 minutes crying.

 

Then there was her ex, someone she admired very much but someone she just couldn’t work it out with. Sometimes she would think on her ex and feel a sadness for something that could have been beautiful if she could just let go of Auron’s ghost. But she couldn’t and she wouldn’t and as that old raisin Maechen liked to say “that, as they say, is that”.

 

Sure, she used to tell herself that what she felt for Auron was just a crush. She used to tell herself that she should consider herself lucky that he entertained her crush for as long as he did. And when she would fall into bed with Gippal, or Buddy, or her ex, or even Issaru for half a minute she used to tell herself that she would find another who could consume her the way Auron did.

 

No one ever did.

 

Because of course no one ever did.

 

Which, Rikku realized at a moment when she probably shouldn’t have been realizing stuff anyway, was a blessing in disguise. If she found someone who could consume her the way Auron did, would she be under Auron right now, scratching her nails down his back and whimpering pure filth in Al Bhed?

 

Probably.

 

*

 

“You don’t think anyone heard us, do you?” Rikku asked as she lightly raked her nails over Auron’s chest, taking deliberate care to avoid the large, pink scar that twisted diagonally from collarbone to waist.

 

She hated the scar. She hated the way it pulled taut his tan skin, she hated the way it dimpled and disfigured his torso. More than anything though, she hated that he just _had_ to come back with the reminders of his own mortality carved into his body. She hated that he just _had_ to come back with the evidence of Yevon’s cruelty branded on him as a constant reminder of what they fought for.

 

And if she hated it, she couldn’t imagine how he must have felt, seeing as he was the one forced to wear it.

 

But in the end, she was just nitpicking. For better or for worse, the Fayth had decided to entertain her bargain and if they hadn’t finally decided to entertain her bargain she wouldn’t be wrapped up under the sheets with the man she adored above all else, scars and all.

 

“If they did, they did,” Auron said nonchalantly. “What I wonder is if all of your private tours end in your bed, or if I just happened to get lucky?”

 

“Oh, you got very lucky,” Rikku grinned.

 

The lights began to dim, before flickering out completely. The cabin was filled with the sound of a low whirring, then a metallic clicking, then dead silence.

 

“Oh,” Rikku said flatly.

 

After a moment, the low whirring returned, followed by a hum. Overhead, the lights kicked back on, brightening white hot before dimming to half-power. The lock on the cabin door hissed, then clicked.

 

“Oh no.”

 

“Oh no?”

 

“The generators kicked on, but they can only power so much. So when the generators kick on, all of the doors unlock,” Rikku explained. “And if all of the doors are unlocked...” She glanced nervously over at her door, just waiting for the moment when Tidus would burst in and ruin everything.

 

“Tidus isn’t going to barge in.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“If we haven’t returned to the bridge yet, he’ll put two and two together. He’s not stupid.”

 

“I don’t know, he’s done it twice before...”

 

“That was different. Stop watching the door. We’re fine.”

 

She pressed closer to Auron, her head resting perfectly in the crook of his neck. She sighed contentedly as the knot of Tidus-induced anxiety began to unravel. This was how she knew this was right, the way they fit so perfectly together.

 

“Can I tell you something?” she asked.

 

“Of course.”

 

“It’s fuzzy, but I remember when I was five Uncle Braska stopped off at Home. And he wasn’t alone. I remember he had a few men with him. Two, three, I don’t know. But I remember one, he looked kind of mean but I could tell he wasn’t because he had such kind eyes. He was tall, and he had long, long hair...he was beautiful. I remember I thought he was beautiful. And he squat down in front of me and he asked me what my name was. And instead of telling him my name I gave him a paper flower and hid my face.”

 

“I regret misplacing that paper flower,” Auron said quietly.

 

“Ha, so it _was_ you!”

 

“Braska had mentioned that you were his niece, and I wanted to say hello,” he said. “I just didn’t expect you to be so shy.”

 

“You probably also didn’t expect to ever see me again, huh?” she asked.

 

“No. But I suppose that’s why when you washed up on the banks of the Moonflow, I wanted to keep you close. Both you and Yuna are the last vestiges I have of someone who meant so much to me. And if Yuna hadn’t agreed to take you on as her guardian, I would have stepped in and asked her to reconsider.”

 

“Really?” Rikku teased. “All that just to keep me around?”

 

Auron shifted slightly, rolling Rikku onto her back and gave her a smile when she was sufficiently pinned between him and the mattress.

 

“Are you saying you’d have it any other way?”

 

She reached up to brush back the strands of silvered hair from his face. She loved how his hair refused to cooperate; no matter what he did to tame it, it always did what it wanted.

 

“Absolutely not,” she purred.

 

The Celsius physically shuddered as the engines roared to life. Overhead, the loudspeakers crackled and squealed with feedback.

 

“Alright, _mad'c kad drec byndo cdyndat_! Next stop: Bevelle!” came Gippal’s voice, interrupted with Brother’s strained voice screeching “NO I AM THE CAPTAIN! ME! ME!”

 

Rikku inhaled sharply. She glanced quickly over at the door, then back at Auron.

 

“Sounds like we still got a couple hours left to kill,” she murmured.

 

“Yeah? I think I have something in mind to help pass the time.”

 

“Oh?” Rikku smiled. “Like what?”

 

“Do you have anything in the way of weapons on board? Once we get to Bevelle, I would preferred to be prepared.”

 

“Oh.” Rikku pouted. “Oh, yeah, I mean, I might have something stashed away...”

 

“But first, lock the door.”

 

*

 

The Celsius did limp into Bevelle, as Gippal promised. Getting into Bevelle was a whole ‘nother story.

 

Sometime after Sin resurfaced a few years ago, Rikku explained as she picked through a small pile of questionably clean clothing, the Al Bhed were banned from several parts of Spira. Most of it was establishments: Luca especially was guilty of creating segregated hotels and restaurants for both Spiran and Al Bhed. But Bevelle was the most restrictive of all. They flat out denied entry to all Al Bhed.

 

“So if you’re a Yevoner priest who happens to be Al Bhed, good fucking luck” Rikku said.

 

“They aren’t making exceptions for clergy?” Auron asked.

 

“None. Say honey, I love the red on you but shouldn’t you change? I hate being matchy-matchy,” Rikku said as she swung her own red haori over her shoulders.

 

Auron blinked.

 

“You know what, you’re right, this one needs a wash. I’ll just put on...you know, this pretty floral one,” she said.

 

Docking the Celsius has been problematic, but not impossible. And once the Bevelle Guard had finished inspecting the airship inside and out, why, they were so gracious as to only extend a visitor’s pass to the High Priestess’s husband himself!

 

“But I have orders from High Priestess Yuna – ” Tidus began, motioning wildly at Auron, who stood with his back to the Bevelle Guard.

 

“And we have orders from Counselor Baralai!”

 

“Oh, fuck that guy!” Tidus barked.

 

“Tidus, you sweared,” Rikku teased.

 

Auron jammed his pinkie in his ear and scratched.

 

“I’m fine with the Counselor’s decision,” he said.

 

“NO! Yuna said send you, so I’m going to send you!”

 

Auron yawned.

 

“You should have split for Kilika when you had the chance,” Wakka said under his breath to Rikku. Rikku nodded.

 

“ _F_ _ecr eh uha ryht, becc eh dra udran, yht caa fryd vemmc ib v_ _encd_ ,” she said.

 

“Stop. I’ll not have you continue to harass my guests.”

 

The guards on board paused, turning to stare out of the main entrance of the Celsius. One took a step forward, his brow furrowed in disbelief.

 

“S-sir? Even the Al Bhed? Al Bhed are forbidden – ”

 

“Especially the Al Bhed. I’ve been expecting her.”

 

With that, the young man – tall and dark, with a gentle face and a shock of white hair – offered a friendly smile to the group. He stepped past the guard detail and bowed; the same bow Yevonites practiced over a thousand years.

 

Auron didn’t bother to mask his look of disgust.

 

“It’s been too long. Please, come with me. Tell me how you have been. Tidus, how is Lady Yuna?”

 

“Ah, she’s...she’s great, Baralai,” Tidus said carefully.

 

“Wonderful,” Baralai breathed. “Now please, let’s hurry along, I have tea waiting and I wouldn’t want it to cool...”

 

Baralai motioned past the entrance, his warm smile never ceasing. He waited until the group filed out and until he was sure he was out of earshot of the guard before melting down completely.

 

It was very unlike him.

 

“What in Yevon’s name is going on?” Baralai hissed. His eyes darted quickly on each member of the group, before finally settling on Auron. “I heard the rumors, you know how people talk, I just didn’t expect...” He stopped speaking and raked his fingers through his hair. “You’re supposed to be dead!”

 

Auron sighed.

 

“You might as well get used to repeating the same old, same old until you’re blue in the face, honey bunny,” Rikku quipped, as she delivered a playful jab to Auron’s ribcage.

 

Baralai blinked rapidly.

 

“Honey bunny,” he repeated.

 

“I was dead. Now I’m not,” Auron said.

 

“And?” Baralai probed.

 

“And?”

 

“AND!”

 

“And...here I am,” Auron added, giving a small, unenthusiastic wave.

 

“Oh, this is wrong, something is wrong...” Baralai moaned. He began to pace. “This rabbit hole goes far deeper than I feared. Perhaps the dead are still escaping the Farplane – ”

 

“Except I’m not dead.”

 

“But how, how could this be, what sort of magic is at play here – ”

 

“I’m quite literally the opposite of dead.”

 

“Tidus, I need to arrange an audience with Lady Yuna – ”

 

“Rikku, give me a pin.”

 

“Sure thing!” Rikku immediately reached into her bum bag, rummaging loudly until she exclaimed a loud “A-HA!” and produced a small jeweled brooch. She dropped it into Auron’s open palm. “Whatcha gonna do with it OH NO.”

 

Quickly, Auron pricked the tip of his index finger with the pin, squeezing the wound until a bead of blood emerged on the surface. In a grotesque gesture of goodwill, he extended his hand to Baralai.

 

“Do the dead bleed?”

 

Baralai stared with wide-eyed shock.

 

“No, the dead don’t bleed,” he said quietly.

 

“Good. Now, lead on.”

 

*

 

The basement library Baralai had lead them to was small and dim, with a handful of slow-burning wax candles dotted around flat surfaces for light. The air was heavy and reeked of mold and moisture, with notes of book decomposition.

 

Rikku sneezed.

 

She kind of liked the ambiance.

 

“Ah. Good. I have been expecting you.”

 

He was tall, with his long, dark locs wrapped under a turban that matched his flowing, brightly colored robes. He looked every bit the Yevoner scholar, blending in so perfectly that unless someone knew what they were looking for, they wouldn’t be able to spot him. A compliment, considering Nooj could be rather conspicuous.

 

“Yuna failed to mention she was sending so many,” Nooj added, peering over his small, silver spectacles at the party.

 

“Her emissaries needed babysitters,” Tidus said with a shrug.

 

“Then she should have chosen better emissaries.” Nooj waved for the rest to follow as he began to hobble forward uneasily, leaning heavily on his gnarled wooden cane for support. “Though, I suppose I understand why she would have wanted to send you, sir. The rumors of your return have already spread through Bevelle, and having eyes to confirm it takes eyes off of the work we are doing.”

 

“So I serve as nothing more than a distraction?” Auron asked.

 

“I can only assume what goes on in Yuna’s mind. I cannot speak for her,” Nooj said simply. “Now. Before I proceed, tell me: what is your understanding of the entities known as Weapons?”

 

“I mean, isn’t there a priest or somethin’ who was exiled by Yevon seven hundred years ago and became Omega Weapon? Down in the Omega Ruins?” Wakka ventured. He glanced around nervously. “Lu told me about it once.”

 

“A simplistic explanation, but more or less correct,” Nooj said. “Weapons are thought to have once been human, transformed through an anger so great that it corrupts them wholly, turning them into powerful fiends.”

 

“Wait, this Omega guy – Yuna said that Weapons roamed Spira before Sin,” Tidus said. “So who’s right?”

 

“Yuna possesses a more rudimentary understanding of Weapons,” Nooj said. “Weapons are infinitely complex entities. We have evidence that they did roam Spira thousands of years ago, though the bulk of it is lost to pre-history. Our friend Omega, however, he is the most well-known example.”

 

He placed his cane across the surface of his desk and sat heavily into a worn leather chair. He bent forward to rummage through a desk drawer, so overflowing with junk that it was unable to close.

 

“Now, let’s see here...ah, this is – no, no it’s not, this is a history of knitting circles south of the Equator.” He pursed his lips and exhaled through his nose before taking a stack of papers from the top of the pile and placing them precariously on his desk. “This? No, this is a transcription of the spheres Yuna sent down to me, spheres about the day to day lives of Spirans past. Nothing that would interest any of you, I’m sure...”

 

“So is this what you’ve been doing since the Youth League dissolved? Just sitting around under a mess of books?” Rikku inquired. Nooj glanced up and gave her a smile.

 

“Oh no, my work is more important than that. There’s certainly a lot of busy work, sure. Pouring over diaries can get old, but sometimes you strike gold. Sometimes you find a line in a journal, or a letter to a loved one, or even a sphere that contains information Yevon tried desperately to bury, that Yevon sympathizers STILL try desperately to bury. It’s my job to ensure this hidden knowledge is set free. Both Baralai and Yuna have been quite the assets, ensuring I have access to these primary sources before the Spiran Counsel and Yevoner clergy. A-ha, there you are.” He reached deep into the drawer, brushing aside writing instruments and wadded up paper before producing a small, worn volume.

 

“We’re unable to determine the date on this. But here. The book you seek.”

 

“Great! We’ll just take that then!” Rikku said animatedly, springing toward the desk.

 

“It’s also written in an ancient text, which we believe pre-dates Spiran script,” Nooj added.

 

“Fuuuck,” Rikku groaned.

 

“Thankfully, I have a scribe to loan you. She’s studying the script and can provide some translation. Here. Give this to your companions.” Nooj extended his arm, book in hand, to Rikku.

 

“Aww yeah, come to mama!” Rikku exclaimed. She reached across the desk, and as the pads of her fingers brushed the peeling brown cover the world suddenly plunged into black.


	7. 6 - Saw Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, now that the leader of Seymour's Basilica has chosen to reveal himself to Yuna, consider a trip to Kilika completely out of the equation.

“It should be made abundantly clear by now that we have considered your bargain and have granted you your boon. However, you still must honor your end of the agreement.”

 

Rikku blinked. All around her was black. Black poured into her eyes, into her lungs, into every nook and cranny of her physical being.

 

She inhaled sharply, breathing in black.

 

“Who’s there?” she asked, her voice shaking.

 

A distant figure began to materialize in the black. A small boy, clad in purple with a blinding, radiant halo of gold bursting behind him. He smiled.

 

“Remember the terms of your bargain.”

 

“WHO ARE YOU?”

 

“Henceforth, you shall be held to your end of the agreement until it is done.”

 

The boy bowed.

 

“Rikku? Are you okay?”

 

She blinked quickly. The small library swam back into view. All around her were books, bodies, and candles, all exactly as they were before her world plunged into black. Her teeth chattered and she stared down at the small tome with wide-eyed horror.

 

“Rikku?” Auron repeated, his voice low. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

 

“OH, HA HA HA THAT’S REALLY FUNNY COMING FROM YOU,” she barked.

 

Heads turned. Nooj stared at Rikku curiously.

 

“Excuse me?” he asked.

 

“Uh, it’s...it’s nothing, nothing...sorry...let’s...let’s just get back to the airship. I don’t feel so good,” Rikku stammered. She looked up at Auron, her green eyes pleading. “Please, let’s get back to the airship.”

 

“Well, before you depart, please don’t forget that I am sending someone back with you,” Nooj said wearily. He turned in his desk chair and glanced over his shoulder. “Paine? Could you come here, please?”

 

Rikku’s head jerked up.

 

“Oh, oh no,” she whimpered. She turned, burying her face into Auron’s chest and repeated her weak pleas of “let’s get back to the airship.”

 

“So the party guests have finally arrived? Great, I can’t wait to get out of this musty dungeon.”

 

Rikku peeked back at Paine, her cheeks reddening. Paine wore an oversized knitted tunic, made form-fitting with a smooth black cincher with silver detailing. Her tight black, woven trousers had a shredded rip in the left knee, exposing a patch of pale skin. She tucked a few errant strand of silver hair behind her ear, hair which now skimmed her shoulders. She blinked quickly, adjusted her Silver Glasses, and glared when she was sure her vision wasn’t pulling tricks on her.

 

“I thought Bevelle had banned Al Bhed,” she said cooly.

 

“Now now, Paine,” Nooj chided.

 

Paine swiveled her head to Nooj and cast him a furious glare.

 

“No! They can find a different scribe!”

 

“One that can translate ancient Spiran script?” Nooj asked. He removed his spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose in mild irritation. “Paine, Yuna asked for you by name. I understand that first and foremost this is a job and that we are being compensated for our time, however, she seemed quite eager to see you again. Wouldn’t you rather work with someone you already have good rapport with?”

 

Paine huffed.

 

“Can I request a Bevelle transport out?”

 

“There are no current flights going in or out for another week and a half.”

 

“Then I’ll wait.”

 

“Paine. This is an order,” Nooj said forcefully.

 

Paine narrowed her eyes at Nooj, before grabbing several rolls of parchment, ink pens, and a dictionary and stuffing them violently into a messenger bag. She swung the bag over her shoulder and with a huff turned to Tidus.

 

“You have the book?”

 

“She does,” Tidus said, pointing his thumb at Rikku.

 

“Great. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

 

*

 

En route to Besaid Village, the mood had quickly soured. Gippal decided to entertain himself by making crude comments about the ship’s passengers, which had done nothing but contribute to the tension on board.

 

“But why has no one mentioned that half of the airship has slept with Rikku?” Gippal had asked with a short, barking laugh as he watched each person remove themselves one-by-one from his toxic presence.

 

Paine, meanwhile, had opted to sequester herself far, far away from the rest of the group, and as a result the air became heavy with unease. Unease that was made all the worse when Wakka decided to barrel head first into a medically graphic story about a bout of food poisoning he had recently experienced. So after storing the book in Tidus’s suitcase and stashing the suitcase away where she was sure it would be safe, Rikku decided to do the only logical thing she could think of to avoid the unease.

 

She decided to hide.

 

After all, she was a master of hiding.

 

Or so she thought.

 

“Rikku, you’ve been UNDER the bed for an hour. I think it’s time you came out.”

 

Rikku mewled pathetically. She wasn’t coming out, no sir. Nothing could make her come out. Not Auron pleading with her from the edge of her bed, not Yuna back in Besaid, hell, not even a massive pot of tropical fruit gelatin dressed up with clouds of whipped cream could convince her to leave her squashed, cramped cave of self-loathing. No. She had decided she would stay under her bed and assimilate with the dust bunnies and the socks and the vibrator she thought she lost a long, long time ago.

 

And now that she found that vibrator, she had everything she could possibly need under her bed. This was her world now.

 

She would finally ascend to her final form, as the Monster Under the Bed.

 

“Rikku.”

 

She made another low, whimpering sound.

 

“How did you even get under there?” Auron asked, bending over and lifting the comforter aside to peer into the din. It was a very small space, but then again, Rikku was a very small girl and she could contort herself into whatever shape necessary in order to hide from the evils of the outside world.

 

The outside world was bright and blinding. It was not safe.

 

In the pitch blackness under her bed, Rikku could feel her eyes atrophy. Soon, she would be like the valiant mole. Soon, she would use her prodigious sense of smell to navigate her subterranean kingdom. She would reject the surface world, because here, under her bed, she found the meaning of life.

 

This was not a cave of self-loathing.

 

This was _freedom_.

 

“This is me now,” she mumbled.

 

Auron dropped to his knees and reached blindly under the bed, grasping Rikku’s ankle tightly before pulling her out. She peered up at him, disheveled and wild-eyed.

 

“Don’t ever make me do that again,” he warned before rising to a full stand. “Now, can you explain _why_ you decided to hide under the bed?”

 

Rikku scrambled to her knees, her legs bent in an uncomfortable looking w-pose. She began to snivel.

 

“You’ve been acting strange since Bevelle. Stranger than usual. You need to talk to me.”

 

“It’s nothing, really. It’s just...” Rikku paused. She couldn’t tell Auron about the bad blood between herself and Paine. No, that would be too awkward and their relationship was too fresh for that breed of awkwardness. And she absolutely could _not_ tell him about the vision she had in the library in Bevelle. That was her dirty little secret. She was going to die with it.

 

She knew it.

 

She knew just what to say.

 

“It’s just my period started and I don’t have anything for it,” she lied.

 

“No it didn’t,” Auron said quickly. “You mean to tell me that in five years your lying never improved?”

 

“What? Why would I lie to you?”

 

“I’m not sure. But you are.” He frowned. “I want to hope that you wouldn’t lie to me.”

 

She pouted. After taking a measured breath, she looked up at Auron, her expression pained.

 

“I thought you weren’t interested in the details. You didn’t want to hear why Yuna made me cry.”

 

“That’s because I don’t care about interpersonal squabbles. This is different. You saw something when you touched that book and I want to know what it was.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It clearly disturbed you. And...” He paused. Suddenly, he looked rather meek. “And I suppose I want to guard you from anything that wishes you harm because icareaboutyou.”

 

Rikku perked up slightly. She smiled.

 

“You _loooove_ me?” she teased.

 

“I suppose that’s the right word, yes.”

 

“Then why can’t you say it?”

 

“Because I’m not accustomed to wearing my heart on my sleeve. Give me time.”

 

“Okay. Coming from you, I accept that,” Rikku said solemnly. She sighed and rose unsteadily from her knees. “And...if I promise to tell you what I saw later, can _you_ accept _that_?”

 

“I suppose, so long as you remain honest with me.”

 

“I promise.” She reached forward and hooked her pinkie around Auron’s and gave it a squeeze.

 

“What...what are you doing?” he asked, his brow arched.

 

“It’s a pinkie promise. You can’t break a pinkie promise,” she explained.

 

She smiled.

 

Because you see, she didn’t define ‘later’. Later could be a few hours from now. Later could be a few _years_ from now. So technically, she would never break the most solemn of promises because without definition, well, later could mean _anything_.

 

Sometimes she was so clever it boggled her mind.

 

*

 

“If I never hear Wakka describe food poisoning again, it’ll be too soon,” Tidus mumbled under his breath.

 

“Can we focus?” Paine interjected. “We’ve come this close and I’d much rather just translate the text and leave, if that’s alright by all of you.” She shook her head. “Why I couldn’t translate it BEFOREHAND is beyond me.”

 

“Because Nooj said it himself, Yuna wanted to see you,” Tidus said. “She misses you, and it’s not like you’re a regular at the temple.”

 

“Well, if she’s hoping to get the gang back together that’s never happening,” Paine warned as she cast an incensed glare at Rikku.

 

Rikku’s stomach sank. She turned her eyes to her scuffed black boots. Really, she didn’t mean to contribute to the tension. Things had been going so well. She was happy. And if she was going to be strong armed into doing Yuna’s dirty work by proxy, why, she wanted to maintain that happy momentum.

 

She was just going to blame Bevelle. Nothing good ever came out of Bevelle. If she could have just managed to escape to Kilika, she wouldn’t have to revisit the bad blood she shared with Paine and hear the words “diarrhea _EVERYWHERE_ , ya!” tumble a little too easily from Wakka’s lips.

 

A gentle nudge drew her back to the present.

 

“At least we can leave soon,” Auron said quietly.

 

“Oh yeah, Kilika,” she murmured. She glanced up.

 

Standing at the steps of the temple of Besaid was Yuna, holding a sphere of softly glowing crimson. She wore a heartbroken expression.

 

“Where’s Wakka?” she asked.

 

“Went back home. Said something about Lulu and shuffled off as quickly as possible,” Tidus said. “Hey, why the long face?”

 

“There’s something important I need to show you on this sphere.”

 

*

 

The image was blurry, but there was no mistaking it: it was the beach where Operation Mi’ihen took place five years ago. From the left of the frame the image of a man appeared. He was blonde, with a thick mop of shoulder-length hair and a striking face. He wore silver-rimmed sunglasses with translucent, yellow lenses to obscure the color of his eyes. He smiled.

 

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kiros Zabac, and Seymour’s Basilica is my organization.”

 

He turned to look over at the ocean and extended a hand toward the water.

 

“Consider this my only warning: if you are trying to stop me, if you are trying to stop _us..._ don’t.”

 

Kiros flashed a final smile before the image slowly panned back over the ocean. Far off in the distance, a colossus rose from the murky depths.

 

The sphere flashed to static, then to black.

 

“That’s a Weapon,” Paine said gravely.

 

“Are you certain?” Yuna asked. Paine nodded.

 

“Based on my research, yes. Of course, I would need a clearer image, but I won’t risk seeking it out. Too dangerous.”

 

“Then it’s settled. Auron, if you could give me the book Nooj sent, we’ll translate the text and take that and the sphere back to Bevelle. Perhaps Baralai can extend his influence to the warrior monks and dispatch them – ”

 

“So. You trust the Yevoners to stop this...this Weapon,” Auron interruption, his inflection flat. Yuna nodded.

 

“They have the manpower we need.”

 

“And you don’t see the irony in that?”

 

“What irony?” Yuna asked, genuinely curious. “I trust them.”

 

Auron laughed.

 

“I really shouldn’t have to tell you that theirs is the same bullshit wrapped up in a different package, and you’re eating it up.”

 

“E-excuse me? No. No, I am the High Priestess. I think I know the Yevoners better than...than you! Their intentions are good! They aren’t Yevon!”

 

“Oh, my apologies. Yes. They’re _Yevoners_ now.” Auron shook his head and scoffed. “Yuna, you’re smarter than this. I’m astonished that you would blindly fall back into Yevon’s fold without batting an eye.”

 

“They AREN’T Yevon! And frankly, you have no room to talk, you know _nothing_ of what happened over the last five years!”

 

“You’re right. I’m not a naive idealist,” Auron huffed.

 

“NO!” Yuna barked. She slammed the sphere down, hard enough to rattle the squat table before her but not hard enough to shatter the orb of swimming light. She glowered at Auron and balled her small hands into fists. “No! You of all people should know the sacrifices summoners are sworn to make! You of ALL people! And if I cannot physically stop this threat myself, then I am going to enlist in the help of those that I can _trust_! And I trust the Yevoners! If my father were here – ”

 

“Except he’s not.”

 

A tense silence fell over the room. Slowly, Tidus rose from his seat and began to creep towards the door.

 

“No. Sit,” Yuna ordered, not once taking her eyes off of her father’s guardian. Tidus shot back into the seat, as though his ass were magnetic and the seat made of steel. She gave Auron a small, tense smile.

 

“Repeat that please?”

 

“He’s not here. He bought into Yevon’s lie so wholly that it cost him his life. It cost me _my_ life. Do you know what a lifetime of serving Yevon brought us? Death. Do you know what Yevon promised us for our devotion? Death.

 

“I cannot speak for Braska’s final moments, but mine were filled with unyielding terror. And I didn’t drag myself across the whole of Spira to show you the truth, only to watch you ultimately reject it. _If_ Braska were here, _if_ Braska was able to see how far down the spiral of death went, do you know what he would feel toward you? Disappointment!”

 

“How dare you,” Yuna whispered.

 

“Yuna. _They_ have not changed. _They’re_ still using you. _They’re_ still lying to you. Why you _choose_ to side with the Yevoners is beyond my comprehension.

 

“And believe this: they will take this information and they will twist it to fit their dogma. They will NOT be the ones to stop Seymour’s Basilica, because they MADE Seymour.”

 

“You’re paranoid,” Yuna said, her voice shaking with unrestrained anger. “You’re confused. You literally just came back from the dead with this outdated assumption of who the Yevoners are – ”

 

“Which I think is fascinating,” Paine interrupted. “I always knew the Fayth worked in mysterious ways, but don’t you find it funny that the Fayth chose to grant Rikku’s bargain right when Seymour’s Basilica began turning the wheels of the war machine?”

 

“Bargain,” Yuna slowly parroted.

 

“Yeah, ask Rikku. She’ll fill you in. She went down to Omega Ruins _of all places_ a few years ago and made a bargain with the Fayth to get this one back,” Paine explained, pointing at Auron.

 

Then all the eyes – all seven of them – in the room simultaneously turned to Rikku.

 

And Rikku felt the blood drain from her head. She felt dizzy. No, she felt like she was going to be sick. She gulped. Or was it a vurp? She didn’t know. She just knew she had to sit down.

 

She sunk to her knees, opening and closing her mouth so that she looked uncannily like a fish out of water before stammering out a small, strained “Paine...why…?”

 

“Don’t you think you owe these people the truth? Then perhaps we can more effectively get to the bottom of this mess with this...this death cult.” Paine smiled and tapped her temple with her index finger. “Think smarter, not harder, Rikku.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to get more out, I've begun writing the rest of this with effectively no betas so it takes a lot longer for me to process my thoughts and make sure the story is properly edited for clarification. Certainly makes the task more challenging but I hope I'm up to it. Please enjoy none the less!


	8. 7 - Bad Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auron's artwork leaves a lot to be desired and Wakka likes carbs.

“Tell me what you thought.”

 

“Pretty sure it was him, ya?” Wakka said carefully. He reached across the small wooden table and pulled a piece of flatbread off a plate. He tore off a piece and popped it back into his mouth, chewing it slowly before speaking again. “Ya’know, when we were in Bevelle that Baralai guy got uncomfortable and started ranting about the Farplane but ya’know what Auron did?” He lowered his voice and his eyes grew wide. “He stabbed himself. Asked if dead men bleed.”

 

“Intense, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Auron,” Lulu mused. She tapped her wooden spoon against the side of the cast-iron pot, filled to the brim with a bubbling, spicy stew. “So you do believe it’s him?”

 

“I mean, he got a point. When you ever see a dead man bleed? ‘Member when Kimahri stabbed Seymour right in the chest with his lancet? Not a droppa blood outta him, ya? And I sure never saw Auron bleed when we were out fightin’ fiends five years ago but then again I thought he was just good, ya?”

 

Lulu nodded.

 

“True,” she said. “Then I suppose it begs the question: what brought him back to us? And why now?”

 

Wakka shrugged. He ripped off another sizable piece of flatbread and rose it to his mouth.

 

“Stop. You’re going to ruin your appetite and dinner is almost ready,” Lulu chided.

 

“You know I got room!” Wakka said proudly, slapping his stomach. “But you know what? I wouldn’t worry abouddit. Like you always say, it’ll all come in time. Besides, it’s nice to see his grumpy face again. It’s just, ya’know, too bad we couldn’t catch up. Rikku wanted to show him her airship and I didn’t see him again until right when we got to – ”

 

He stopped talking.

 

He slowly turned to look at Lulu.

 

He blinked.

 

“She didn’t show him her airship,” he said. Lulu sighed.

 

“I suspected she would have been eager to pick up where they left off,” she said quietly, as she began to ladle large portions of stew into wooden bowls. “But I think this is a conversation we should refrain from having over the dinner table near impressionable ears.”

 

“Wait wait wait what do you mean pick up where they left off? Did something _happen_?” Wakka exclaimed. Lulu placed the bowl before Wakka and kissed him on the cheek.

 

“Eat up before it gets cold,” she said.

 

*

 

“Bargain,” Yuna repeated. “Rikku. You told me you did not make a bargain with the Fayth.”

 

“I was DESPERATE! I thought they would HEAR me! They heard YOU! They gave YOU Tidus! Why couldn’t they hear me!?” Rikku shrieked.

 

“What were the terms of the bargain?” Auron asked.

 

Rikku sunk her fingers into her hair.

 

“WHAT WERE THE TERMS OF THE BARGAIN, RIKKU?” Auron barked. The sound of his voice carried through the room, echoing off the rafters and filling Rikku with a stomach-lurching feeling of foreboding. Auron wasn’t the kind of guy who raised his voice. He was just too composed to ever express his anger in that way.

 

So hearing him yell – it scared her.

 

“M...m...my life,” she finally stammered. She sniffled and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. “I offered them my life in exchange...for...but I’m pretty sure that means they just want me to you know, be a nun, which I can do! I can be a nun! I can offer my life to serve them!”

 

“That’s absolutely not how they’ll interpreted your bargain,” Auron said coldly. “Was _that_ what you saw in Bevelle?”

 

“What did she see?” Yuna asked.

 

“I dunno, I saw...I saw this little boy and he told me to remember the terms of my bargain, said something about until it’s done, I don’t know what he means! I don’t know what’s happening!”

 

Yuna and Auron exchanged glances. Yuna sighed.

 

“You saw the Fayth’s emissary, Bahamut,” she explained. “You need to remember exactly what he said to you.”

 

“I-I-I-I can’t! It was vague, I was scared, he just said I’ll be held to the agreement until it’s done. That’s all he said!”

 

“Well,” said Paine, interrupting the chaos unfolding around her. “I think I’m going to turn in for the night. It’s better we approach the situation at hand with clear heads. And Rikku?”

 

Rikku whimpered.

 

“I’m sorry I just wasn’t enough for _you_ ,” Paine added, her voice bitter and oozing with sarcasm. “But you’re clever. You’ll figure this out, I’m sure.”

 

She gave Rikku a clap on the shoulder before slipping away and leaving behind a silence that rang louder than Auron’s shouting.

 

“Well, that was nice of Paine to set off that grenade and leave,” Tidus sighed after a moment. He shook his head slowly and raked his fingers through his disheveled mop of copper hair.

 

“No, it...it makes sense,” Yuna said cautiously. She looked at Auron. “They’re calling upon us again. They want us to put a stop to Seymour’s Basilica. The Fayth waited to grant Rikku’s bargain for this reason.”

 

“But if we fail, Rikku forfeits her life,” Auron said quietly, his tone soft and focused.

 

“I-I-I-I only did it because I love you,” Rikku hiccuped.

 

“No!” Auron hissed, turning his attention directly to Rikku. “No, you did it because you’re a selfish little girl who thinks of yourself before thinking through the consequences! I told you to move on!”

 

“I couldn’t!”

 

“BULLSHIT!”

 

Auron inhaled sharply and sighed. He closed his eye, took a grounding breath, and exhaled. He turned to Yuna.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, his voice a hair above a whisper. “I’m sorry I raised my voice. Perhaps it would be wise for me to get some rest as well. Yuna, do I still have your permission to stay in the temple overnight?”

 

“Of course,” Yuna said gently. “I’m not going to throw you out over a misunderstanding.”

 

“Thanks,” Auron murmured. He nodded once at Yuna and Tidus before striding quickly out of the room, ignoring Rikku entirely.

 

Tidus exhaled with an audible “whew”. He looked at Yuna.

 

“I have never seen Auron that angry,” he said. “Never. And I used to set fire to trashcans.”

 

“Excuse me what?”

 

“I…ah, I did a lot of acting out after my old man disappeared and my mom died,” he said hurriedly. “Auron had a hell of a time dealing with me. So.” He quickly switched back to the topic at hand. “We’re fucked.”

 

“Not necessarily,” said Yuna with a shade of optimism. “We defeated Sin. If we can do that, we can honor the terms of Rikku’s bargain, right? We just have to stay positive and come up with a plan.”

 

“A plan. Got it,” Tidus repeated. “You heard that, Rikku? We’re going to come up with a plan!”

 

He looked around the room. He knitted his brows together – only Yuna and Tidus remained in the small, dusty chamber.

 

“Where’s Rikku?” he asked.

 

But Rikku was gone, stumbling in a haze back to the Celsius. Her pleasant dream was over. Paine hated her. Auron hated her. And she felt as though she was struck by a Ghost, counting down her doom until her timer hit zero.

 

She fucked up.

 

She really fucked up.

 

And she was afraid there would be no un-fucking her fuck-up.

 

*

 

The next morning was truly picturesque. The ocean sparkled merrily under the sun’s warm rays. Aurochs had gathered at the beach, telling jokes and practicing their shots at the waters’ edge. In the village people were cheerfully beginning their day, greeting each other with smiles and waves as they went about their business. Even the fiends that dwelled deep in the forest, the dingos and the flans and the condors, even they kept to themselves instead of acting like absolute dicks to any human being that might cross their path.

 

The next morning was truly picturesque. In fact, there would probably never be another more perfect morning.

 

Which is why Auron spent it huddled under his haori, glowering at his cup of black tea that had long since cooled to piss and doing what he did best: wallowing in a pool of his own misery.

 

He hadn’t been alive for a week and he was already back on his bullshit. Braska would be proud. In fact, if Braska were here today, he would smile and tell Auron to look at the bright side. After all, there was _always_ a bright side. “Not everything is doom and gloom, Auron. Come on, don’t dwell on the things you can’t change. Focus instead on what you _can_ change.”

 

Alright Braska, he thought. Let’s go ahead and run through the list together: he was alive only because Rikku made a deal with the devil. It was a terrible deal, a deal that placed her squarely between a rock and a hard place, and it was going to be his responsibility to get her out of the mess she made. Because it was _always_ his responsibility, wasn’t it?

 

He sighed. Rikku. He loved Rikku. He really did. And he knew he loved Rikku the moment she came screaming into the temple, kicking over teapots and accusing him of being a fiend. And she loved him. She _still_ loved him. What a deliriously lucky thing it was to come back to life and find a woman – a beautiful woman who was also head over heels in love with him – just waiting for him.

 

But wait! That beautiful woman made a deal with the devil!

 

Hooray.

 

“You don’t have to look so happy, Auron!” Tidus said cheerfully as he flopped down at the table, across from him. “C’mon, smile!”

 

Auron just stared at Tidus.

 

Tidus grinned.

 

“That’s the Auron I know,” he said. “Remember the mornings we would spend together, and you would stare me down from across the table and tell me not to be a dumbass? I missed those.”

 

“I never called you a dumbass,” Auron said quietly as he returned his gaze to his ice-cold tea.

 

“But you thought it, right?” Tidus joked.

 

“Aw’right, what’s so important that Yuna had to come waddling over to my hut to get me first thing in the mornin’? Tidus, why couldn’t you be her little messenger boy instead of sending her out to find me?” Wakka interrupted. He plopped down heavily at the table, where he was greeted by a display of muffins arranged in a circle on a large, lacquered plate. He smiled and took one before turning back to Tidus. “What is it that you do for a livin’ anyway?”

 

“I…uh…” Tidus stammered.

 

“Oh Wakka, I came to get you on my own. I can still walk, you know,” Yuna chided, with Paine following not too far behind. “Besides, I thought it was important to fill you in on some…er, recent developments. You know, because you helped get the book from Nooj.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Seymour’s Basilica dropped us a line,” Paine said simply. “Their leader, Kiros Zabac, sent us a sphere introducing himself. They’re no longer a fringe cult. They pose a bigger risk than first imagined. And.” She crossed her arms and shook her head. “Rikku made a bargain with the Fayth.”

 

“Not only that, but the Fayth granted her bargain. Which explains…” Yuna motioned to Auron. “But now the Fayth expect payment. We suspect this means we’re tasked with putting a stop to Seymour’s Basilica and their Weapon. However, if we fail, Rikku gives up her life. Those were the terms of her bargain.”

 

“So you know, small potatoes. If Rikku dies, she dies,” Paine said nonchalantly.

 

“Paine!” Yuna exclaimed. “What an awful thing to say!”

 

Paine shrugged.

 

“By the way, where _is_ Rikku?” Tidus asked, as he slowly turned his head to stare down Auron.

 

“Why are you looking at me? She’s not my responsibility,” Auron sneered back.

 

“Well FUCK,” Wakka said, spitting bits of muffin across the table. “That’s quite the situation to wake up to. I suppose then we got a plan, ya?”

 

A short lull fell over the small group. Auron glanced over at Yuna.

 

“Do you have some parchment?” he asked. Yuna nodded.

 

Hastily, he snatched the piece of parchment and a brush from Yuna’s outstretched hands. He plunged the brush into a pot of ink and drew out what appeared to be a wheel of cheese missing a small wedge, attached to a curvy piece of string. He stabbed it once, spattering black ink across his masterpiece.

 

“The plan is simple,” he said. He sketched a squiggle under the cheese wheel, separating it from the string. “Cut off the head, and the body dies. If we focus our attack on Kiros – the head of the snake – the cult will dissolve.”

 

“Wait, what is that?” Tidus asked, peering over Auron’s shoulder at his “artwork”.

 

“It’s a snake,” Auron said, as though it were obvious.

 

“That’s probably the ugliest drawing I have ever seen,” Yuna said quietly.

 

“I wanted to illustrate my analogy. I’m sorry I’m not an artist!” Auron said defensively.

 

“Ya, you should be sorry,” Wakka said. “Even I can draw a better snake than that.”

 

“Does anyone else have a better idea?!” Auron demanded, as he crumbled the parchment into a tight ball. Yuna crossed her arms, her brows furrowed in concentration.

 

“So we know Seymour’s Basilica have a Weapon. At least, that’s what the sphere indicates. Paine, do we know how to combat it?”

 

Paine shook her head.

 

“Translating the book isn’t easy. I’ve just barely scratched the surface,” she said softly.

 

“Even then, we’re too ill-equipped and too ill-prepared as we are right now to fight a Weapon directly,” Auron said as he watched Wakka stuff a whole muffin into his gaping mouth. He returned his gaze to Yuna. “We’re going to need manpower in the interim.” Yuna nodded.

 

“That’s true. Then, who are our allies?”

 

“Not the Yevoners…” Auron warned.

 

“No, because…because you’re right,” Yuna conceded. “Bevelle is good at keeping secrets. Too good. After all, they were able to hide Vegnagun under our noses for centuries and that’s a weapon on par with what we saw in the sphere.” She paused. “I’m beginning to question if I can place my full trust in the Yevoners and their warrior monks.” She sighed and cradled her belly. “I just wish _I_ could be of more help. If I could banish Sin a second time, I think I can handle this Weapon of theirs.”

 

“Wait, what about the Al Bhed?” Tidus interjected.

 

“Whaddabout them?” Wakka mumbled, his cheeks bulging with carbs.

 

“Can’t we call on them? I mean…Seymour’s Basilica is the reason why they’re so isolated, right? Because they took the blame for Sin, right? They’re angry, they’ve got to be. And! They have access to machina! Yuna!” Tidus exclaimed, spinning to face her. He took her hands in his and gave them a comforting squeeze. “Weren’t you told to look for Cid if you ever needed him? This is the time to look for Cid!”

 

Yuna nodded and smiled, her first genuine smile in God knows how long.

 

“You’re right! If anyone can help, it’s Cid. But…”

 

“But?”

 

“We’ll have to go to him.”

 

“Great! Do you know where he is?”

 

“Well…” Yuna began. “He’s mostly retired now and he likes to take the Fahrenheit to see the parts of Spira he’s still allowed to see. It’s been awhile since I’ve caught up with him, but the last I heard he’s up north in Kilika.”

 

Auron’s head snapped up at the mentioning of the name.

 

“Really,” he said, trying to maintain a level tone.

 

Yuna nodded again.

 

“Yeah. In the Celsius it’ll take no time at all to get there.” She paused, stroking her belly idly as she gathered her thoughts. “Maybe I should come too. Maybe I could better convince him that we need his help.”

 

“ _Can_ you come?” Paine asked.

 

“Oh yeah, I can still travel for a little while yet, I just prefer not to.” Yuna grinned. “And Kilika is so close. If we left right away, I could talk to Cid and be back before sunset.”

 

“So that’s the plan, ya?” Wakka asked. He picked up another muffin and continued to speak as he pulled it apart, bit by bit. “We’re gonna go find Uncle Cid and then you’re gonna bat your eyes and say ‘Uncle Cid, I’m pregnant and I need an army to fight a Weapon’, ya?”

 

“Well, when you put it that way, that sounds kind of…manipulative…” Yuna said, frowning.

 

“But that’s literally the plan,” Paine said.

 

Yuna sighed.

 

“At least it’s a workable plan,” Auron said.

 

“Great. Then I’ll continue working on a translation while you guys take the Celsius for a spin,” Paine said with finality.

 

“What, you don’t want to join us?” Wakka asked.

 

Paine shot him a withering glare.

 

“Alright, alright, forget I asked,” Wakka said meekly.

 

As the room descended into a low buzz of overlapping voices and Yuna loudly demanding to know where all the muffins went, Tidus took the opportunity to sneak up beside Auron and leaned in close.

 

“We need to talk,” he murmured, his voice low.

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yeah. Outside.”

 

*

 

“You know, I was excited to see you again. I just didn’t want to overwhelm you so I left you alone,” Tidus began. He crossed his arms. “I had hoped the next morning I could catch up with you. Tell you how things had been. Tell you how _I_ had been, because I thought maybe you would care. But…but…you know, this has been bothering me ever since you came back and you know what? I’m just going to come out and say it.”

 

He uncrossed his arms and suddenly sprang forward, slamming his open palms into Auron’s chest.

 

“This…this BULLSHIT between you and Rikku! What the fuck! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

 

“Tidus – ”

 

“And it started five years ago?! When she was fifteen?!”

 

“Tidus, please – ”

 

“I thought you had more decency than that, but this whole time you were taking advantage of Rikku’s crush on you! We _all_ knew she had a crush on you! But you were an adult! You should have acted like an adult! What could you have possibly seen in a fifteen year old girl?!”

 

Tidus exhaled forcefully.

 

“You know…when Yuna first told me she was pregnant, I thought of you,” Tidus said quietly, his tone transitioning from one of aggression to one of sadness. “Because you were there for me when my old man wasn’t. You were more of a dad to me than Jecht ever was. And Yuna and me…we had decided to name the baby after you if it’s a boy. But now, I can’t. I can’t name my baby after a dirty old man that preys on young girls.” He shook his head and combed his fingers through his hair.

 

“I thought I knew you,” he croaked.

 

“Tidus, if you would allow me to explain…” Auron began. Tidus glared.

 

“What is there to explain?!”

 

“For one, you’re right,” Auron conceded. “My relationship with Rikku was inappropriate. I won’t argue against that.”

 

“Then why?”

 

“I suppose over time I became blinded by the attention,” he said. “I lost my head.”

 

“Weak…” Tidus hissed under his breath.

 

“Listen. There’s no excusing what I did,” Auron said exasperatedly. “Do I wish I could go back and change my behavior? Yes. However, if I _could_ go back and change what happened, there’s a very good possibility that I wouldn’t be standing here being dressed down by you.”

 

“Yeah? Well, I would rather you stayed dead while holding on to your dignity, instead of seeing you alive _only_ because you were fucking around with Rikku and she happened to catch feelings!”

 

“That’s not fair. I wasn’t ‘fucking around’ with Rikku – ”

 

“My mistake, you waited until your grand return before immediately fucking her in the airship.”

 

“Hey. I don’t appreciate the vulgarity,” Auron said with authority, in the way that a father would scold a son. “Let me clarify this for you: five years ago I was certainly affectionate toward her, but I never made any untoward advances. That was a line I refused to cross. However, she’s an adult _now_. She can see whomever she pleases _now_. She doesn’t have to answer to your feelings. In fact, I think it wise for you to reconcile whatever feelings you have, because they don’t matter.”

 

“That’s real funny of you to talk about her like that after screaming at her last night,” Tidus snarked. “You should be thanking her for making that stupid bargain in the first fucking place!”

 

“Because you’ve never had a disagreement with Yuna?”

 

“Of course I’ve had disagreements with Yuna! I’ve just never yelled at her in public! But I guess that’s just another shining facet of your personality that you hid from us, isn’t it? You’re a dirty old man _AND_ a bully!”

 

Auron shook his head and threw his hands up.

 

“Clearly we’re going nowhere with this, Tidus,” he sighed. “Maybe when you calm down we can talk about this like adults.”

 

“No. If you expect me to calm down and suddenly be okay with the thought of you fucking my wife’s cousin, then you’ve got another thing coming. I’m never going to be comfortable with your relationship with Rikku, okay? It’s weird. It’s wrong. And I’m _never_ going to come back around and say ‘I thought about it and I’m totally fine with you perving on a girl half your age’. Not happening, old man.”

 

Tidus turned on his heel and stopped immediately. Standing a few feet away was Paine, her arms crossed and a perturbed expression on her face.

 

“You two done bitching and moaning? Because we have a bigger problem on our hands than who’s screwing who,” she sneered.

 

“Wait…what’s going on?” Tidus asked.

 

“The Celsius. It’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure by now you've noticed that each chapter is a song title. So if you want to add another layer to this fic, feel free to listen to the songs that helped me along the way. Writing is a huge process for me, lol!
> 
> Thank you SO MUCH for your comments and kudos. This really means a lot to me and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.


	9. 8 - Cringe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Slow Chapter.
> 
> There is no I in Team, so let's work things out.

“No! No, please! I beg of you! Release me!”

 

Kiros Zabac found no joy in what he was about to do. Contrary to what others may believe, he did not enjoy taking lives. It saddened him when the ones he killed refused to find solace in the fact that death was the final deliverance from all the suffering in their lives. It saddened him to accept that outside of Seymour, he was the only one who had found enlightenment.

 

Kiros wasn’t a monster.

 

He was a prophet.

 

And as the prophet chosen to carry out Seymour’s final wish, well, he had to get his hands a little dirty.

 

“The time for begging is over, old man,” Kiros cooed.

 

“No, please! Please, let me go! I’ll give you anything if you release me, I swear!”

 

The priest turned his pleading blue eyes at Kiros, his face screwed up into an expression of pure terror. Kiros simply exhaled.

 

“Have no fear. You’re about to receive the greatest gift of all.”

 

Kiros pressed his palm against the priest’s forehead and pulled, forcing the man’s head back against his shoulder. With one clean motion, he plunged the blade into the priest’s carotid artery and tugged, cutting open a clean gash across the width of his neck.

 

The priest sucked in air and began to gurgle.

 

Kiros smiled.

 

He pulled the blade from the priest’s neck and tipped him forward, into the white foam that curled along the sand. He watched with indifference as the priest’s blood swirl back into the ocean; as the black gore faded into pink tendrils that flowed to meet the colossus rising slowly from the water’s depths.

 

“I hope you find it to be a fitting offering,” Kiros said, his gaze set firmly on the Weapon.

 

Slowly he turned to his assistant as he wiped the blade on his dark slacks.

 

“Xu,” he started. He began making the slow crawl back toward the former Crusaders command center, tucked far and away from the cliff’s edge. “I was thinking now would be a good time to introduce ourselves to the whole of Spira.” He turned to look at her.

 

Behind him, a young woman with a blunt bob struggled to keep up his pace, hopping over dunes of soft white sand as she bounded toward him. She nodded in agreement.

 

“Y-yes,” Xu panted once she had fallen into lockstep with Kiros. “Delaying your introduction would be detrimental to your reputation. No time like the present, eh?”

 

“Luca, then?” Kiros asked. The corner of his lip tugged upward into a small smirk. Xu nodded brusquely.

 

“The stadium will be packed with people. Your debut will be impossible to miss.”

 

“Alright, then let us roll out the welcome wagon.”

 

*

 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE AIRSHIP IS GONE?”

 

“Yuna, ah…ah, maybe you should take it down a peg? You don’t want to stress out the baby,” Tidus said gently.

 

“I AM CALM!” Yuna shrieked. She balled her hands into fists and took two deep breaths. “What…what do you mean the airship is gone?” she repeated, her voice shuddering with rage.

 

“It’s gone. As in, Rikku must have left with it sometime last night. Clearly it’s a power play,” Paine said.

 

“I think you’re oversimplifying,” Auron said quietly. Paine tilted her head and crossed her arms.

 

“Oh? You think so?” she asked. “Then please. Enlighten us with your knowledge of the situation.”

 

Yuna grit her teeth.

 

“If she thinks she can derail our plans by taking off with the airship, she has another thing coming,” she growled. “Wakka’s boat. We’re taking Wakka’s boat. We have no other choice.”

 

“Wait, right now?” Tidus asked.

 

“YES RIGHT NOW!”

 

“Then count me out,” Auron said.

 

“Wait, wait what? What? No!” Yuna sputtered.

 

“You don’t need to take me along with you if you’re only going to talk to Cid.”

 

“But I _do_ need you! You promised to be my guardian!”

 

“I promised to be a Summoner’s Guardian.”

 

“And that’s what I am, I’m a SUMMONER, and all of us here, we made an OATH – ”

 

“Except you’re not a summoner any longer. The need for summoners died with Sin,” Auron said cooly.

 

“No, that’s where you’re wrong – ”

 

“Aah, leave him! If he’s going to act like this then we don’t _need_ him!” Tidus spat.

 

Yuna moaned in defeat. Her gut was telling her to stay home; her plan was clearly half baked and even if it weren’t, it was doomed to failure as long as her friends continued to go at each other’s throats.

 

But it wasn’t as though she had another workable choice. Meeting with Cid was the best of their bad options; if Cid could be convinced to part with just a few Al Bhed, a few dozen, no maybe _just_ a few hundred…why, they could defeat both the cult and their Weapon _and_ meet the terms to Rikku’s vague agreement easy peasy!

 

So she told herself; her plan was clearly half baked and even if it weren’t, it would take a miracle to convince Cid to come around.

 

Still, that didn’t stop Yuna’s cheeks from burning red with humiliation as Cid said “no” hours later, on a quiet beach on Kilika, as he wore a tiny swimsuit that left nothing to the imagination.

 

“Yuna, I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout this cult, you hear? I can’t ask my people to go on a wild goose chase to help you fight some invisible enemy I never even heard of. Besides, you should be restin’ and focusin’ on my little grandniece, or grandnephew, or whatever it is you got in there,” he had said. And then he sent Yuna away with the promise to visit Besaid with a wagon full of gifts and that, as they say, was that.

 

She had no remaining option but to return to Besaid, feeling wholly defeated and nowhere closer to putting a stop to Seymour’s Basilica. And worse: nowhere closer to rescuing Rikku from the Fayth.

 

*

 

“ _You know what your problem is?”_

 

_Auron sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose._

 

“ _No, but I’ve a feeling you’re about to tell me.”_

 

“ _You take everything too seriously!” Jecht exclaimed, throwing his hands up in emphasis. “And you’re too damn young to be this serious! I feel like I can’t even crack a joke around you, because you’re such a killjoy!”_

 

“ _Thanks, Jecht,” Auron said monotonously._

 

“ _C’mon man, Braska’s a summoner and even he’s more fun than you.”_

 

“ _Thanks, Jecht,” Auron repeated._

 

“ _You know, one day this is going to come to a head and bite you in the ass,” Jecht said. He clapped Auron hard on the shoulder. “You’re lucky to be friends with such a guy like me. I’m willing to look past your social shortcomings. You can try to alienate yourself, but you can’t because I’m stuck on you. But you know, not everyone is a nice guy like me and when you push ‘em away, they may not come back.”_

 

Auron bit back an exasperated groan. Of all fucking people, why did it have to be _Jecht_ that spoke the most sense? Was it because Jecht wasn’t afraid of being honest while Braska elected to take a more diplomatic approach?

 

He sighed and sat down his paintbrush next to his thirty-seventh sketch of a snake. Christ, how he missed his friends. Sometimes it felt as though they were the only two people on Spira that he was unable to push away.

 

It wasn’t even though he meant to isolate himself. He was just overwhelmed by Yuna’s insistence that he immediately carry out her wishes. And then there was his fight with Tidus over his relationship with Rikku…and Rikku’s bargain. Rikku’s selfish bargain was the reason he _could_ sit and sulk amongst the dune of wadded up sheets of paper, each one defaced by squiggles of feathered black ink.

 

He capped the bottle of ink and pushed himself to his feet. He overreacted. He met each new, overwhelming challenge with aggression when he should have kept a level head. He was just too emotional – and as Jecht had so kindly pointed out fifteen years gone, he was also too serious.

 

All he ever wanted was a second to catch his breath. All he ever wanted was someone to talk to, someone who could help bring him up to speed to the five years he lost. But even that felt like asking too much.

 

Fuck it. While Yuna and her fan club were away, he would go see Lulu. She may not have Jecht’s abrasive honesty, or Braska’s openminded diplomacy, but damn it he hadn’t pushed her away and he could always count on her to lend him a sympathetic ear when he needed someone impartial to confide in.

 

“You’re wrong, Jecht. I know plenty of nice guys like you,” Auron said aloud as he pulled the door shut behind him.

 

*

 

He stopped before a hut, where a little boy played beside the entrance. The boy looked to be about three and shared the same wild, orange hair and knowing grin of his father.

 

There was no question that this was Lulu’s hut.

 

Auron crossed his arms and gazed down at the little boy.

 

“Where’s your mother?” he asked.

 

The little boy glanced up as a loud giggle escaped from a wide, toothy mouth.

 

“I dunno,” he crooned.

 

Auron dropped to a squat so that he was more to the boy’s level.

 

“Look, I need to talk to her. She’s a friend of mine and – ”

 

“What’s wrong with your face?” the little boy asked, as he raised his pointed index finger to hover over the scar that cut down the right side of Auron’s face.

 

Auron sighed.

 

“The gods have a sense of humor.”

 

The thick strip of woven fabric that served as the entrance to the hut drew back. Auron glanced up.

 

“Ah, so you’ve met Vidina,” Lulu said with an easy smile.

 

“He asked me what happened to my face,” Auron said over the peals of Vidina’s shrieking laughter.

 

Lulu looked down at her son.

 

“Vidina! We don’t do that!” she scolded.

 

Vidina continued to giggle.

 

“No! Go back inside!” She exhaled shortly and cast Auron a sympathetic glance. “I’m sorry about Vidina.”

 

Auron shook his head.

 

“Don’t let it bother you. He’s fine. He doesn’t have a filter. Give him time.”

 

“It’s hard,” Lulu began. “Yesterday he was new born; tomorrow he’ll be a young man. I take it one day at a time, but I fear that’s too much of a rush.” She titled her head slightly. “How old was Tidus when you adopted him?”

 

“Adopted?”

 

Lulu nodded.

 

“I ah…I wouldn’t say…I was his guardian,” Auron finally said with a tone of finality. “Because clearly that’s what I was meant to do, serve as a guardian.”

 

“There are less noble professions,” Lulu said easily.

 

“Still, I wish I could have come to that determination.”

 

Inside, the hut was dark and cozy, with small white candles dotting just about every flat surface and flickering between the seashells, rocks, and small glass vials filled with God knows what. A few sepia toned photographs printed on heavy parchment were propped carefully against the spines of leather-bound books; photographs of a smiling happy toddler, of a smiling happy family, of a smiling happy Wakka holding a smiling happy Lulu in an eternal sepia toned embrace.

 

“When did you and Wakka marry?” Auron finally asked.

 

“Shortly after the start of the Eternal Calm,” Lulu answered with a smile. “When the dust had settled, Wakka finally confessed his feelings for me. Of course, I had my suspicions, but actually hearing it come from him was a comfort. We married a year later, and shortly thereafter I became pregnant with our son, Vidina. The rest is, well…” she finished, gesturing at the interior of the modest hut.

 

“You and Wakka. I never would have guessed,” Auron said. He paused at a low shelf, lined with the dolls he recognized from their shared pilgrimage five years ago. Funny how Lulu had kept them. He slowly reached out to touch the one at the end, the small golden knight, when suddenly Lulu shrieked.

 

“NO! DON’T TOUCH THAT ONE!”

 

He quickly jumped back, his hand pulled to his chest as though he were bit. He stared at Lulu with wide-eyed horror. Lulu blinked quickly, a flush creeping up her neck.

 

“I…apologize. That one is special,” she said quietly.

 

“Ah.”

 

“Anyway,” Lulu said, after clearing her throat. “You never answered my question. How old was Tidus when you adopted – ”

 

“Guarded.”

 

“ – alright, _guarded_ him?”

 

“I…wish to avoid talking about Tidus, if that’s alright.”

 

Lulu blinked and gave him a knowing smile.

 

“You had a fight?”

 

“I suppose you could call it that.” Auron took a measured breath before continuing. “He…”

 

“Doesn’t approve of your relationship with Rikku, hm?” Lulu finished.

 

“So you knew,” Auron said in a hushed tone.

 

“I was…aware,” Lulu said carefully. “I think Kimahri was the first to realize what was going on. He then brought it to my attention, and I had just assumed that because you were the adult, you would handle it. On hindsight, I realize your definition of handling it was quite different from mine.”

 

“Was it so obvious?”

 

“Well…allow me to put it this way: you’re too honest to get away with lying and sneaking around for too long. After awhile, you begin to give it away,” Lulu said with a small smile. “I wasn’t…uncomfortable with it, not in the way Kimahri was, because I knew you wouldn’t hurt Rikku. But I didn’t approve.”

 

“If I could – ”

 

“But you can’t,” Lulu finished for him. “You can’t go back and change a thing. And besides, weren’t you the one that lectured about how it does no good to dwell on the past?”

 

Auron crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling.

 

Lulu smiled.

 

“You are very easy to read, you know. Is that why you used to hide your face?” she teased. “Are you afraid that if you take off your sunglasses your eyes will give you away?”

 

“Lulu.”

 

She giggled behind her hand.

 

“I’m sorry. But…there’s something else, isn’t there?” She paused and tapped her index finger against her chin. “Should I make a pot of tea?”

 

“I’m not in the mood for tea.”

 

“Yet. Let me get a pot going. So. I…had heard that Rikku had struck a bargain,” Lulu probed as she began to fill a small clay kettle with water. “And now, you’re torn. You love her, but you’re angry at her for disrupting the natural order of things. For seeking out the Fayth and offering her life in exchange for yours. And you feel guilty for feeling anger toward her. Am I wrong?”

 

“No, that sounds about right.”

 

Lulu nodded once.

 

“You need to talk to her.”

 

“How?”

 

“Back in the temple. Yuna has a radio and a list of frequencies, from her days as a Gullwing. And if Rikku left with the airship, she certainly has her own radio with her. I can’t say it will work, but you can at least try.”

 

“Gull…wing?”

 

“Sphere hunter,” Lulu said with no explanation. She smiled at Auron’s quizzical expression. “After the start of the Eternal Calm, people were anxious to leave their islands, to leave their cities and see the world. Sphere hunting became a popular past time for awhile. It’s fallen out of favor, but there are a few diehard sphere hunters left. Ask Yuna to fill you in on some of her stories. Better yet, ask Rikku – once you can get her to talk to you again.”

 

“She hunted for spheres too?”

 

“Yuna, Rikku, and their friend Paine. The three of them called themselves the Gullwings and traveled all over Spira, looking for rare spheres. Looking for trouble, too. I was envious of them, you know, but I was out to here with Vidina and I could only live vicariously through their stories,” Lulu said with a smile, circling her arms out a foot in front of her to illustrate her pregnancy. “But when Vidina is older, I think Wakka and I will take him with us to write our own stories. See Spira again with new eyes.”

 

“Huh,” Auron muttered.

 

“Now that I look back on it, I realize now the lengths Rikku went through to keep your memory in the past…” Lulu said carefully. “So I understand why she left. I don’t agree with it, but I understand.” She sighed. “Rikku must be hurting terribly right now.”

 

“She brought this upon herself…!”

 

“She did. But you stirred the pot, you know.”

 

“How?”

 

Lulu shook her head and raised a hand to touch her forehead.

 

“I figured you to be more perceptive than this. Auron, you’re sending her mixed signals.”

 

“I do not send mixed signals.”

 

“Neither are you as straight-forward as you like to think.” She turned her back to carefully fill two small clay cups with a pale pink tea. “How should I say this…Tidus told me that you two became intimate on the airship.”

 

Auron sharply sucked air between his teeth.

 

“Tidus gossips worse than Kimahri,” he grumbled.

 

“Tidus also tells me it was obvious so…” Lulu smiled. “Learning discretion will be a benefit to you if you want to keep others from gossiping.”

 

“Noted,” Auron hissed.

 

“Now, let me tell you something about women…” Lulu began. She raised an index fingers, cutting off Auron before he could let out a strangled “but”. “No. Allow me to give you the advice you sought.”

 

She stared at her feet as she gathered her thoughts, before speaking slowly and carefully.

 

“When it comes to love, men and women speak two different languages. Women tend to put love first. Everything we do, we do from a place of love. Rikku loves you. She slept with you _because_ she loves you. And when you flip a switch and argue with her not long after she chose to share herself with you, I assure you she’s questioning whether or not you’re just like the other men she’s been with, men who have used her one way or another. You need to talk to her. You need to put her mind at ease. Because if you love her, you’ll apologize.”

 

“But – ”

 

“Enough with the “but’s”, Auron,” Lulu chided. “You’re going to apologize to her. And it’s going to be sincere. You want her back? This is how you get her back. Go talk to her.”

 

*

 

Thousands of miles away, Rikku sat precipitously on the edge of a cliff, staring down. She rolled a softly glowing red sphere between her palms.

 

After Auron’s snit, sure, she had been hurt. Crushed, actually. Because who wants to hear that they’re a selfish little girl who thinks of themselves, or whatever noise he had made? She couldn’t remember, he was yelling and she had a propensity to tune out yelling. And besides, couldn’t he see WHY she made that silly bargain in the first place? Of course not!

 

So she stumbled back to the Celsius and did the only thing that made sense to her in that moment:

 

She got roaringly drunk.

 

“HOW CAN HE CALL ME SELFISH WHEN I LET HIM FUCK ME?” she remembered shrieking to Buddy. “I MEAN, I _LET_ HIM _FUCK_ ME. HE…HE SHOULD BE _THANKING_ ME!”

 

“Yessss,” Buddy slurred right back. “You’re so right, you’re just…so right.”

 

And then she blacked out.

 

The following morning, clouded by the throbbing haze of a terrible hangover, Rikku decided to take off for the Calm Lands. She wanted to get as many miles as possible between her and the Isle of Besaid. And now that the Calm Lands were slowly reclaiming their namesake and becoming, well, calm again, she could sit and be alone with her thoughts.

 

A dangerous idea, she realized as she rolled a softly glowing red sphere between her palms. The sphere. The stupid sphere. The stupid sphere Auron left for her right before he departed for the Farplane. The stupid sphere that grew to become one of her most beloved possessions.

 

She had half a mind to throw the sphere as far as she could, off the cliff’s sheer edge and into the ravine below.

 

But before she could further entertain the thought, the earpiece of her radio squawked loudly. She flinched as the sound beat up against her eardrums.

 

“Brother I fucking told you _mad sa suba eh bayla_! I’ll _lusa pylg frah E's nayto_!”

 

“Rikku, it’s me.”

 

Rikku’s stomach dropped.

 

Him.

 

What did _he_ want? Better yet, how did _he_ find her frequency?

 

“All the more reason I should switch this thing off!” she hollered.

 

“No wait, Rikku – please! Just give me one minute.”

 

“You only get one, buster!”

 

“Fair.” She heard Auron exhale deeply before diving straight into his plea. “Rikku, I’m sorry. Come back.”

 

“Well, you have me convinced. I’ll be back right away,” she said thoughtfully. She pressed her palms into the sphere, as though her raw strength was enough to shatter the ball of swimming red light into a thousand tiny slivers. Too bad she lacked said raw strength.

 

“Really?”

 

“NO WAY! I’m staying right here and if you don’t like it, tough titties!”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“The Calm Lands!” she barked. She stopped herself with an “oof”.

 

Fuck.

 

“Alright. If you won’t come to me, then I’ll just come to you.”

 

“Nice try, but I have an airship! You don’t!”

 

“Rikku, please,” Auron sighed, exasperatedly.

 

“You called me selfish.”

 

“I did. And I’m sorry.”

 

“And I bet you still think I’m selfish.”

 

“I didn’t say that.”

 

“Do you think I’m selfish?”

 

There was a long, uncomfortable paused, followed by the smallest utterance of “…a little?”

 

“AW!” Rikku shouted. “You’re not supposed to say that! You know, you’re doing a really shitty job of convincing me to come back! Maybe…maybe it’s because you just want my airship! That’s why you’re reaching out, because _you_ want _my_ airship!”

 

“I don’t want your stupid airship!” Auron exclaimed. “I want you!”

 

Rikku sat back, plopping the sphere into the grass beside her. To say she wanted to see where this was going was an understatement.

 

“Oh really?” she sneered, doing her best to sound as though her interest had not been piqued.

 

“The airship, the cult, the bargain…they don’t matter. Those things don’t matter to me. Having you here beside me? That matters.”

 

“Oh, really?” Rikku repeated, her tone softening. “Then why did you yell at me?”

 

“Because I’m prone to weakness. I shouldn’t have yelled. I shouldn’t have called you selfish. I’m sorry.”

 

“And I guess you really can’t help that you’re a grouchy old man,” Rikku purled.

 

“What?”

 

“Sorry, that was static. We have a bad connection.”

 

“Huh.”

 

“I suppose I could come back. But it’ll take awhile.”

 

“Then I suppose I can wait. But…why the Calm Lands?”

 

“RIKKU! _Ruf silr muhkan ec drec ehyha pyhdan kuehk du ku uh?_ ” Brother interrupted, his shrill voice crackling with wailing feedback. “This channel is for emergency only!”

 

“Son of a BITCH, STOP EAVESDROPPING!”

 

“Your personal life is not an emergency! It is a mess, but not an emergency!”

 

“This is where I take my leave then,” Auron muttered weakly.

 

“God damn it Brother you ruin everything!” Rikku shrieked before ripping out her earpiece and chucking it into the ravine below.

 

She gulped.

 

And now she was without a radio.

 

*

 

Several days passed.

 

Yuna stewed in her humiliation, and still no closer to coming up with a conclusive plan. And Rikku finally made her quiet return to the island, using the dead of night to her advantage in the way that a schoolgirl sneaks back home after breaking curfew.

 

Things felt right again. The balance had been restored…for the most part.

 

Because nature abhors a balance. If nature didn’t, a loud pounding at the door wouldn’t have shocked Auron out of a dead sleep.

 

He groaned. The simple fact that not even the faint glow of the sun’s rays warming up the horizon was indication enough that it was far too early for this bullshit.

 

A second loud pounding forced him to drag himself out of bed, stopping long enough to pick his haori off the floor and pulled it tight around him.

 

He pulled the heavy door open and frowned. Tidus.

 

Tidus was, so far, the only person he had been unable to make nice with. Well, Tidus and that other one, Paine. The one that shot him dirty looks when he was staring in her general direction, the one that spoke to him in monosyllables and glowered from sunrise to sunset. He wasn’t sure what her problem with him was, and frankly he didn’t care enough to ask.

 

“Hello, Tidus.”

 

“Yuna asked me to get you. Said we need to leave for Luca, right now.”

 

Auron sighed.

 

“Alright, thanks,” he said before pressing his palm to the door and pushing it shut.

 

Tidus stopped the door with his foot.

 

“No, it’s really important this time. Otherwise I’d let sleeping dogs lie.”

 

“Whaaaat is it? What’s going on?”

 

Tidus’s blue eyes drifted to the source of the tiny voice. He raised his brows.

 

“Rikku? When did you get back? Why are you naked?!”

 

“’m not, see, got these on,” Rikku said as she hooked her thumbs under the band of her white panties. Tidus made a disgusted face.

 

“Oh Christ, if this is really going to happen can you _at least_ make her put on a shirt?” Tidus asked, turning his gaze back to Auron. Auron groaned in exasperation.

 

“Rikku, please go back to bed, let me handle this,” he muttered.

 

“Gladly,” Rikku said around a yawn. Once she had shuffled back into the dark, Auron looked back at Tidus.

 

“Ok. So. What’s so important about Luca and why does it require my presence at this hour?”

 

Tidus lowered his gaze to his feet and exhaled shortly.

 

“Luca’s been attacked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize. I've been working on this for a month, because I felt that I wrote myself in a corner in the last chapter. It took a lot of work to get characters to communicate with each other again, and I feel like this isn't my strongest chapter. 
> 
> Plot is back on track and I hope to not produce anything so slow going again. I still hope you enjoy!!


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